Phyllis Gall Award

The Phyllis Gall Grandparent Award to recognizes outstanding service to the Down syndrome community. A tremendous supporter of DSAMT, Phyllis was grandmother of Ron Talbott and mother of our executive director, Alecia Talbott. Sadly, we lost Phyllis in 2014 after a very long, hard-fought battle with cancer. However, she continues to give back to our organization everyday through "Phyllis' Angel Babies Program," an initiative of the Music City Quilt Guild, of which Phyllis was a long-standing member. Through this program, guild members make beautiful, one-of-a-kind, hand-made quilts for DSAMT. The quilts are given as part of the Celebration Bag to welcome families with newborns into our community throughout the state.

There were no nominations for 2023 Grandparent of the year

2022 Recipient - Mr. Jerry Criswell

Jerry Criswell is Thomas' "Paw Paw", who beginning in 2019, prior to being Paw Paw to Thomas, Mr. Criswell started the "Race to Include". Mr. Criswell has continued to bring awareness and support inclusion for individuals with Down syndrome, especially since the birth of his grandson. The Race to Include was started to bring awareness to Down syndrome and inclusion for individuals of all abilities. Mr. Criswell has hosted many events at Veterans Motorplex for DSAMT. In addition to the yearly race, Mr. Criswell opened up the property of the race track to host the 2020 and 2021 drive thru Buddy Walks® when families were unable to come together for those events in-person. Thank you, Mr. Criswell for all you do for the Down syndrome Community

Past Recipients: