Most everyone who has witnessed Memphis jukin’ icon Lil Buck perform at the Vail Dance Festival over the years is impressed if not enamored with the dancer. And you have Tom Russo to thank, at least in part.

“I like to joke I brought Lil Buck to Vail for the first time,” said Russo who picked Charles “Lil Buck” Riley up from Denver International Airport in 2011 and drove him to Vail as part of his duties as a Dance Festival volunteer.

It’s one of many long-standing contributions Russo has made to the community since the early 2000s. The Vail Valley Foundation has announced that Tom Russo is the 2019 recipient of the Vail Valley Volunteer of the Year award. The award is given out each year to a deserving person who has contributed volunteer time, effort, and vision to the entire Vail Valley community.