Stone-Welch was nominated by nearly a dozen people who highlighted his decade of volunteer work in the city and who all said had been key to helping transform Hamilton into a better place. He still doesn’t feel worthy of the honor, describing it as a case of imposter syndrome, especially when he compares himself to the city’s pioneers who’ve earned this same honor.
After learning of just a couple of the people who nominated him, he’s growing more comfortable with the idea of the honor. Kind of.
“There have been a few people who I really, really admire in this community who nominated me, and that makes me feel really good because when somebody you really respect says you deserve something like this, that’s pretty awesome,” he said.
One of his nominators, Hamilton Planning Director Liz Hayden, called Stone-Welch “a wonderful role model for the next generation of Hamiltonians” as he selflessly gives back, and his volunteer work has showcased the city in a positive light to literally thousands of people over the past decade.”
YWCA CEO Wendy Waters-Connell said he’s not only a person of character deserving of the honor, but has the pedigree to back it up, highlighting his numerous volunteer efforts, including indicating his work with Hamilton Pride as “needed and pioneering work.”
Stone-Welch grew up in Hamilton, and as a gay youth, he had felt “uncomfortable in my own skin and didn’t feel accepted.” It wasn’t that anyone was cruel to him, it was he didn’t feel accepted as he didn’t see others who were like him. From his junior high school years until he graduated from Hamilton High in 2010, he felt he couldn’t be comfortable in the city.
He didn’t plan to return to Hamilton after college, but he did in 2014, landing a job at CDA as an Ohio University graduate working for Mike and Cindy Dingeldein’s architectural firm on High Street downtown.
Looking back, he knows there were people like him that most likely felt the same way as he did. An objective with Hamilton Pride is to “make sure people don’t have that same experience.”
“It’s not just for queer people,” he said of Hamilton Pride. “In general, young people want to live in a community that’s diverse and vibrant and full of arts and cool businesses and cool events. And with a lot of that, the queer community contributes to a lot of that in a big way.”
Though he is active in a lot of community events and organizations, the City of Sculpture and Hamilton Pride are two of his most well-known volunteer efforts, but all of this started the second day on the job at CDA when Mike and Cindy Dingeldein got him involved.
“I was a 22-year-old right out of college, and they very quickly got me involved in many different things,” said the soon-to-be 32-year-old. “It was my literal second day at work here, and Mike took me to the City of Sculpture (meeting), and that changed my life.”
It changed his life because he met his future husband, Jacob, who was on the board, and he jumped on board with the organization. Then he helped out with Ice Fest, and Cindy Dingeldein got him involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton with fundraisers and events.
“And I learned a lot about how to run events through that process,” he said, which eventually led him to be the logical choice to lead Hamilton Pride, which will have its fourth annual festival this June.
But his mark on the city hasn’t just been by his volunteerism. It’s been literal, and in 2017, he submitted the design for “Taking Flight,” a StreetSpark mural that was selected to be painted on the McDulin Parking Garage that overlooks Rotary Park in downtown Hamilton. He’s now on the 2024 mural selection committee.
HOW TO GO
What: The Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce annual dinner
When: Jan. 26, 2024
Where: Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill, 601 N. B St., Hamilton
Info: For tickets, visit www.hamilton-ohio.com
About the Author
