Oxford City Clerk Ashley Atkinson was honored recently by her fellow city employees by winning the annual Virginia H. Chrestman Memorial Outstanding Employee of the Year Award.

The award was established in memory of Chrestman who worked for the city of Oxford for 30 years as secretary, deputy city clerk and from 1974 until 2003, served as city clerk, working under former mayors John Leslie, Patricia C. Lamar, Richard Howorth, and George “Pat” Patterson.

Atkinson was hired in 1997 by Chrestman to serve as deputy city clerk. In 2016, she was promoted to City Clerk.

Atkinson said she was “honored and surprised” to receive the award.

“When Mrs. Chrestman first hired me back in October of 1997, I was just an Accounts Payable Clerk. One of my first duties was sorting and alphabetizing all of the invoices that were submitted for payment; one might think that’s not an important job, but in our office, it still is,” Atkinson said. “As the office grew and changed, I moved up and around to different positions, all the while learning something new from each experience. I’ve worked with some great people over the years and learned a lot from them as well (some of it “what to do” and some of it “what NOT to do”). At the end of the day, I just like to know that I’ve helped someone, fixed a problem, or at least listened when they wanted to vent and then steer them in the right direction for a solution.”

Any full-time employee of the city, who has worked for more than eight years, can be nominated for the award. After a department head nominates a city employee, a selection committee chooses the award winner.

Atkinson received a $1,000 award and her name will be added to the plaque with the names of all Outstanding Employee Award recipients that is located in City Hall.

The award funds come from the Virginia H. Chrestman Memorial Fund for the city of Oxford through the CREATE Foundation.