Write a commentOn Wednesday, Retired and Senior Volunteers program (RSVP) held its 51st annual volunteer recognition luncheon at the Lake Ontario Conference Center.
Live music was provided by Frank Tyrrell, and local author and Fulton Garden Club volunteer Jim Farfaglia gave the keynote speech. Farfaglia has a book about Fulton’s Mt. Edna cemetery due to be released in October and a book he co-wrote with Tim Carroll about Lake Neatahwanta coming out in the spring.
The local author is also a very active volunteer in the community: he has spent about 30 years working with various programs (like Senior Camp) at Camp Hollis and more recently, he revitalized the Fulton Garden Club. He spoke about the epidemic of loneliness affecting our communities; according to a national survey, the most impacted age group was young adults aged 18-25.
“We had the benefit of clubs and a very closeknit community when we were growing up,” he told the crowd, “and now, we have the opportunity to role model community and making connections for younger volunteers we work with.”
The room certainly had the warm feeling of friends coming together. Cheers erupted as raffle winners were called. Ten volunteers were recognized for being active volunteers into their 90s, and each name called was greeted with applause and cheers of congratulations. Special recognition was given to Rose Woods, who is RSVP’s longest-serving current volunteer. Woods has spent 27 years volunteering for RSVP—over half of the time RSVP has had a presence in Oswego County!
Additionally, Presidential Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to: Joanne Czajkowski, Allison Dillabough, Dennis Merlino, and Timothy Woodward. Each award recipient was also presented with a citation from Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay’s office, commending their contributions to our community. Each award winner has dedicated at least 4,000 hours to volunteer work so far in their lifetime.
The event also included nods to the many volunteers who have participated in improving our county in the past. Memorabilia boards were set up at the entrance to mark the many accomplishments of RSVP volunteers over the years, including news coverage and photo albums.
For readers who may not be familiar, RSVP was begun 51 years ago through SUNY Oswego, which continues to administer and support the nearly 40 volunteer-driven programs run by RSVP. There are currently 271 active senior volunteers, and each contributed an average of 150 hours of community service over the past year. iHeart Oswego extends our deepest gratitude to these seniors for their continued dedication and support of our area, and for modeling the values of community and caring for our younger generations.
Sponsors of the RSVP luncheon event included United Way, Mayor Jim Rice and Catherine Rice of Fulton, and Devine Designs by Gail, among others.
