Granville County Commissioner Zelodis Jay was named the 2021 recipient of the Robert Blackwell Award by the county’s Human Relations Commission.

The announcement was made during the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast event, held virtually on Jan. 18. Fellow commissioner David T. Smith presented the award to Jay and called Jay an “advocate for all the citizens of Granville County.”

“It’s not many times that I find myself speechless,” Jay said, upon hearing the announcement. “I love my county, I love my community, I love the people, and I serve them the best that I can,” he added.

A longtime resident of the Oak Hill Community, Jay is active in his church (Vernon Hill Baptist) and with the Joe Toler Alumni Association. “He is dedicated to his family, to the people of the Oak Hill Community and to the entire county,” Smith concluded in his presentation. “He is well-deserving of this award.”

Jay said this award is an honor he never expected. “Just to be able to walk in Mr. Blackwell’s footsteps is an honor,” he said. “He helped so many and so much for Granville County,” he said of the person for whom the award is named. He said he enjoys working to make his community better for all. “We have to work with everybody, not just with some and not with others,” he said. Granville residents seem to find ways to work together for a common goal, he said.

Jay has been a county commissioner for 26 years. He currently works with numerous county-based committees, including the Broadband Committee, which is working to bring internet service to unserved and underserved areas of the county; KARTS ; Emergency Services Committee, which ensures rural areas have adequate and available emergency services resources. He also is on the planning committee to celebrate Granville County’s 275^th anniversary, which will take place this year.

Jay was named Outstanding Elected Official by the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments in 2018.

The award was established in memory of Rev. Robert Blackwell, an auxiliary deputy with the Granville County Sheriff’s Office for 40 years. Blackwell was well-respected in the community and had served on the Human Relations Commission from 1993 to 2015.

To learn more about the Human Relations Commission, please visit the Granville County Government website at www.granvillecounty.org.