Where there’s a ribbon to be cut, there Bob Bowline will be.

Bowline, winner of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce’s Wally Galluzzi Volunteer of the Year award, prides himself on being one of the more active members of the chamber’s 100-member Envoy Task Force. When a new business has a grand opening, he helps make sure a group of people from the chamber will be there in the background to make the business owner feel welcome.

“I’ve enjoyed being on the envoy task force because I get acquainted with new business people,” said Bowline, 76, the retired human resources director for Hallmark Cards’ production plant in Lawrence. “It helps me keep up with what’s going on in the business community even though I’m not actively employed anymore.”

Bowline grew up in Dickinson County, where his father ran a weekly newspaper. He has lived in Lawrence about 40 years. His wife, Wilma, is retired from the speech, language and hearing department at Kansas University, and they have three children.

As a retiree, he enjoys supporting the arts, reading magazines and historical books, and sailing.

He’s served on various community boards, and he has a special enthusiasm for the chamber.

“I’m for any organization that helps us grow economically,” he said.

Bob Bowline, retired human resources director for Hallmark Cards' production plant, is the recipient of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce's Wally Galluzzi Volunteer of the Year Award.

Cathy Lewis, the chamber’s vice president of membership, said Bowline’s enthusiasm sets an example for other volunteers.

“He’s the kind of guy that is always there to welcome new businesses,” she said. “Everybody loves to see Bob.”

Bowline said that when he considers the man after whom the award is named, he’s not convinced he deserves it. Wally Galluzzi, president of Haskell Indian Junior College from 1970 to 1981, was a former chamber board member and was known as a tireless volunteer.

“It’s kind of humbling,” Bowline said. “I don’t know that I see myself as doing all that much.”