Thank you. I am honored to be with you today.

Many who come to Great Smoky Mountains National Park are amazed by its beauty. I am sure that each of you has been awestruck. But you have done more. You have taken pride, and you have given care. By putting muscle into emotion, you have made the park a better place, and America a greater country.

All of the actions done through Take Pride in America are animated by that spirit. Because of the patriotism and the selflessness of individuals like you, Take Pride is a great agency of service. I am proud of each of the people in Take Pride who have given - and who are giving - so much to the nation.

Gifts like yours have made the park great. The Smoky Mountains was one of the first national parks created from private lands. It was established largely through hard-working hands. The federal government was not able to fund the land acquisition in the 1920's, and so much of the money first came from private donations. Schoolchildren gave pennies, benefactors gave thousands and even millions of dollars.

The park grew, the park became great. Those who visited fell in love with the park. They came, they saw, they gave.

That generous spirit is alive - and thriving - today. Over the past nine years, volunteer program activity at Great Smoky Mountains has increased by 115 percent. The park now has the largest volunteer program in the south east region, and the third largest in the entire park service.

Last year, more than 2,100 volunteers donated more than 111,000 hours of time in the park, a value equal to that of more than 50 permanent staff.

Each of you has played a generous part in that work. Measuring the time that you have spent volunteering is not difficult. The awards you are receiving today are a marker of that service. It might be possible to put a dollar figure on that effort, by multiplying that time against an hourly wage.

But that would miss the point, and it would badly understate the size of your contribution. Life is finite. None of us know how much time that we have left. You have chosen to give generously from that finite, priceless resource of time.

Each of you has volunteered more than 3,000 hours of service - more than a full year of eight hour days. Tom Wainner and Raymond Palmer have given more than 4,000 hours.

That service takes many forms. Tom Harrington develops and presents interpretive programs. Shirley Jones serves as a statistician and an educator. Others of you make mail runs, answer questions at the information desk, serve on special events and staff the information desk.

But the value of the gift remains, regardless of the form it takes. Each hour of service has done more than improve the park; it has made America a prouder nation.

Great Smoky Mountains needs more people like you. More than 9 million visitors come to it each year, making it the nation's most popular national park.

In fact, all of our lands could use your hands. That is the spirit of Take Pride in America. The thousands of Take Pride volunteers all across the country put their hands where their hearts are. In giving service, they give us pride.

You are exemplars of the generous spirit that made Great Smoky Mountains Great. You are its sustainers and its perpetuators. The gifts of your time are glinted with gold, a treasure to the park and to the nation.

I am proud to honor you today.