COURVOISIER DEDICATES VEGAS' AWARD TO LOCAL CANCER PATIENT WHO LOST BATTLE

Dave Courvoisier likes Las Vegas. And Las Vegas likes Dave Courvoisier.

A television news anchor at a NBC-TV affiliate in Las Vegas, Courvoisier was recently honored as the 1991 Las Vegas Man of the Year for his work with foster children.

The annual award is presented by the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, a nationally known multi-specialty hospital and research institution that has been designated a clinical cancer research center by the National Cancer Institute.

Courvoisier, who formerly worked at KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau and has long been an advocate of homeless and foster children, received the City of Hope's Spirit of Life award and a fellowship, which is awarded to the annual honorees. Courvoisier requested that his fellowship be in bone cancer and he dedicated it to the memory of a Cape Girardeau youth, Willis Andrew "Trey" Springer III, son of Willis A. Springer Jr. and Marki McMullen Springer, teachers in the Cape Girardeau public school system.

"The Springers are friends of ours," said Courvoisier, a native Illinoisan who has lived in the Las Vegas area for more than a half-dozen years.

"We like Las Vegas," said Courvoisier. "This award was a great honor. I've always enjoyed working with children and finding homes for them. I feel there is a great need for that."

Courvoisier is married to the former Vikki Ann Holt, daughter of Mae Holt and the late Grant Holt. Mae Holt lives in Cape Girardeau and is a neighbor of the Springers.

"The Springers are pleased with the fellowship dedication," said Courvoisier. "It gives them some hope that Trey's legacy will live on."

Trey Springer lost his battle with cancer in December 1990.

"We were thrilled that he dedicated the fellowship in Trey's memory," said Mrs. Springer. "It means so much to us, and it will help so many others."

Courvoisier received his honor in late November during a special banquet held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Previous winners of the honor include such notables as former California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown and the late Sammy Davis Jr.

Courvoisier, of Greenville, Ill., and a graduate of the University of Illinois, first became involved in his work with a foster children series during his first major job in television news at KFVS, the CBS affiliate television station in Cape Girardeau. He became director of "Wednesday's Child," a KFVS feature that focused each week on a child in need of adoption.

He continued the children's series under the name, "Best Friends," in Greensboro, N.C., before becoming the main anchor at KVBC in Las Vegas, where he lives with his wife, Vikki, and their two children, Grace Emily, 3, and Madeline, who was born recently.

He continues his "Wednesday's Child" program at Las Vegas, where he also works in the "Big Brother" and "Big Sister" programs. When KVBC took on a fund-raising project for the City of Hope, it was Courvoisier who headed the live telecast.

"We visited the California campus of the City of Hope," said Courvoisier. "The center provides health care to men, women and children with a variety of illnesses, but the majority of patients about eight of 10 suffer from some form of cancer."

The City of Hope, established in Duarte, Calif. in 1913, is now composed of 118 buildings on a 102-acre campus, and has an annual budget in excess of $185 million. Approximately 220 doctors and 1,900 other staff members carry out the city of Hope's medical and research programs.