Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Winders, Bolen honored as Pioneer Citizens
SILOAM SPRINGS — Diane Winder and her late husband Larry Winder brought their passion for theater to Siloam Springs, donating time and money to build the Sager Creek Arts Center. They also served the community through their volunteer work.
The Winders, along with Dick Bolen, received the Pioneer Citizen Award at the annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet on Thursday. The award is given out to residents who lead with their heart, who face new challenges and pave the way for new frontiers, according to a news release from the chamber.
This will be the second time a husband and wife duo will receive the award. The first time was in 2019, when Bob and Cathi Coleman received the award. The difference this year is Larry, who died in 2017, will be receiving the award posthumously.
Diane Winder was born in Connecticut but was raised in Cocoa Beach, Fla. After graduating from high school, Diane moved to New York City where she worked as a model.
“I didn’t do photography,” Diane said. ” I did fashion shows and stuff in New York. Then I moved to Dallas and did it.”
Eventually, Diane made her way back to Cocoa Beach where she got a job working for the security company Wackenhut. She was based at NASA where she was a security guard for astronauts.
While doing community theater in Cocoa Beach, she met her husband Larry. The couple got married in 1965. Larry went back to school and completed his master’s degree in health and hospital administration from the University of Florida, then the couple traveled around the world.
Diane said the family has lived in Richmond, Va.; Macon, Ga.; and Saudi Arabia. Larry and Diane ran the hospital at King Khalid Military City, which was under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers. Later on the couple moved to Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, where Larry ran a teaching hospital.
Larry Winder was born in Galion, Ohio. He spent a few years in the Air Force working at the Kennedy Space Center during the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury projects. Larry also indulged in his love of theater. It was while working on a play called Mary, Mary that Larry would meet his wife.
“Neither of us were in that play,” Diane said. “He was doing lights and I was helping.”
After traveling for several years, Larry was offered the administrator’s position at Siloam Springs Memorial Hospital in 1984. He took the position and settled the family in Siloam Springs. Larry would remain the administrator until 1990 when they were sent to Granbury, Texas. Despite having to move, the family didn’t sell their home.
“We never moved away,” Diane said. “We just went away for a while. We always intended to end up here.”
When the couple returned in 1991, they built and ran the Sears store in Highland Park Shopping Center for a few years. When Sears refused to renew the couple’s contract unless they opened Sundays, the Winders sold the store. Larry began building homes with Chris Willis, building Woodcreek Apartments and the Quail Run neighborhood.
Diane began volunteering for organizations such as the Siloam Springs Hospital Auxiliary, Civitan, the Siloam Springs Museum Board and the Parks and Recreation Board. Larry and Diane also continued their work with the Sager Creek Arts Center.
Theater was always a passion of both Larry and Diane. Larry enjoyed directing plays while Diane loved acting. Although she appeared in numerous plays, Diane’s favorite plays for Sager Creek Arts Center, which closed in 2013, included Grace and Glory and ‘Night Mother. Diane’s most recent appearance was as Mrs. Claus in the Christmas comedy Christmas Ain’t Over in the Little Town of Christmas for newly established Siloam Springs Center for the Arts.
“Diane is a consummate professional,” said Jeremy Kelly, president of the Siloam Springs Center for the Arts. “She always knew her lines and always showed up.”
Kelly also said Diane was there for the sake of the art and she would donate props if she had them.
Don Warden, the director of collections and research at Siloam Springs Museum, knew Diane from their time at Sager Creek Arts Center and was delighted to hear she was awarded the Pioneer Citizen’s Award.
“It’s great,” Warden said. “She has contributed many years to the community.”
Joallen Moose nominated Diane for the Pioneer Citizen’s Award because she felt Diane was deserving of the award. Moose said Diane took the leadership role in various projects through Civitan, the hospital Auxiliary, and the Sager Creek Arts Center and worked diligently to make these projects a success.
“I observed Diane’s leadership and it was wonderful,” said Moose.
Along with devoting time to the Sager Creek Arts Center, the Winders each had volunteer pursuits outside of theater.
Larry was president of the
Siloam Springs Rotary Club in 1988 and 1989, and received the Paul Harris Fellow according to Rotary secretary/treasurer Louise Brown.
Larry was also an avid fan of John Brown University basketball, Brown said.
In 1998, Larry helped to build Koala Park at Northside Elementary School — a stateof the-art playground for children.
“He was a team captain and was quite a leader,” said Judy Omo, who was one of the coordinators of Koala Park. “He was dedicated.”
Diane devoted her time to the Siloam Springs Hospital Auxiliary. She didn’t begin volunteering for the auxiliary until after Larry retired from the hospital.
One of Diane’s projects during her time at the auxiliary was to return items donated to the original hospital to their families. She had to sort through paintings, dedication plaques and other items that people gave.
“I enjoyed being around them both,” said Jan Hanson, who was part of the Sager Creek Arts Center and also worked with Larry at the hospital. “Larry and Diane loved the arts and would do anything for the arts.”
Dick Bolen has spent nearly four decades quietly making an impact on the community he loves by helping local theater thrive, supporting schools and serving his church.
Bolen grew up in Plymouth, Mich., where his father worked for Daisy Air Rifle.
When Bolen was 15, his family moved to Rogers to be closer to the company headquarters. He graduated from Rogers High School and went on to the University of Arkansas for two years. He graduated from Arkansas Tech University before fulfilling his military obligation, he said.
Bolen spent the first 10 years of his career working in the truck business, starting in sales and rental, and then moving into fleet management in Memphis, Tenn.; Jackson, Miss.; New Orleans and Houston.
One day, while stuck in traffic during a rainstorm on Houston’s Interstate 610 loop, Bolen decided “this is not for me,” he said. He headed back to Arkansas and in 1982 he started work as fleet manager for Simmons Foods.
Bolen married Lydia Zulpo in 1987 and the couple adopted their infant daughter Abby in 1993. His family inspired him to get involved in school, civic and church activities. he said.
“I love living in Siloam Springs,” Bolen said. “As far as I am concerned there is no better place.”
Bolen became involved in the Sager Creek Arts Center when Jan Hanson asked him to be in one of her shows.
“I gave him the bug,” she said.
Bolen spent more than 15 years acting in and directing plays and also served on the arts center board.
Bolen is a pretty quiet guy, but really enjoyed getting into different characters and loved making people laugh, Hanson said. It wasn’t long before Bolen found he had a knack for directing, she said. He knew what he wanted and knew how to talk to people with patience to achieve it, she said.
“He’s quiet and he doesn’t look for recognition, but I think he enjoys seeing the arts come to life and seeing people enjoy that here in town,” Hanson said.
The arts center closed in 2013, but Siloam Springs Center for the Arts sprang up in 2018 to fill the void in the community. Bolen is a founding board member of the new center.
“Even though we are small, we can have our own arts and enjoy that sort of thing here at home and not have to drive to Fayetteville to go to a play or a concert,” Bolen said.
Bolen was very involved in the schools, especially while his daughter Abby was growing up. He was a board member for the Siloam Springs Children’s Center, served on the high school project graduation committee and volunteered for the Siloam Schools Adopters Program at all levels. He also served as a softball player, coach and umpire for the Siloam Springs Parks and Recreation league.
Dan Siemens, retired Southside Elementary School principal, recalled Bolen and wife Lydia were active, handson parents who supported the school both while their daughter was there and after she moved up. Bolen helped with the Watch Dog Dads program, Siemens said. Bolen also volunteered for the school’s Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and worked with his company to get a top-of-theline grill system donated for several Adopters fundraisers, Siemens said.
“They’re just a very nice family, both he and Lydia, just nice folks,” Siemens said.
Karen Davis, who worked under Bolen at Simmons Foods for 27 years until he retired in June 2018, also described him as a hands-on dad.
“Dick is really interested in youth and children, he’s very kind, he’s such a good dad,” she said.
Davis said Bolen’s kindness and patience also translated into his professional life.
“I couldn’t have had a better boss, he was very level-headed and soft spoken, but very businesslike,” she said.
Over the years, Bolen has served at St. Mary Catholic Church as president of the parish council, chairman of the finance committee, Eucharist minister, lector and as religious education teacher.
Bolen was a founding member of the Siloam Springs Knights of Columbus in 2005, according to Chyle Rollins, a fellow church member. Bolen has also been instrumental in volunteering for Hope’s Kitchen, which provides a free lunch on the first and third Friday of each month.
Rollins said Bolen is a people person who loves his community and is always willing to answer a call to help with church and community activities. No matter the situation, Bolen is calm and professional, Rollins said.
“He is just one of those unique people who has a lot of talents and he is willing to share,” Rollins said.