Archive: Around Town

Ted Schiele has been named Rotarian of the Year for 2015-16 by the Rotary Club of Ithaca. The award is given every June in honor of an active club member who exemplifies the Rotary motto of "Service Above Self."

Schiele was chosen for the honor by outgoing Rotary co-president Jean McPheeters, who said "I nominated Ted primarily because of the excellence of our weekly e-newsletter. Good communication is critical for an organization, particularly one that was as unusual as ours was last year. We had five co-presidents, so having a newsletter with a consistent, coherent and fun message was absolutely fundamental. I was always amused by the writing and entertained by the quirkiness, but also learned a lot about the meetings I missed."


Schiele works in the Health Promotion Program at the Tompkins County Health Department, and is the coordinator for Tobacco Free Tompkins. He joined the Ithaca Rotary Club in May 2011. In addition to the club's e-newsletter, Schiele has volunteered for Share the Warmth, works the annual Pancake Day event, and prepares the club's program for the Little Apple Fall Follies every autumn. He has also attended two years of Rotary Leadership training, and maintains the club's website.

"Writing the newsletter has given me the best training I could ever have for what it means to be a Rotarian," said Schiele. "This is a dedicated group, focused not only on our own community, but on the global community as well. It is an honor to be a member of the Ithaca Rotary Club, and especially an honor to be recognized by these members of our community."

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