Ten Salisbury residents were honored for their volunteer service to the community. They are, from left: Janet Keim, Richard Kalady, Gregory Cichocki, James and Barbara Litzenberger, Wendy and Daniel Bellesfield, William Norton, and Connie Kelly. Not present was Larry Schaffer. Standing behind the volunteers are Township Supervisors, from left: Robert Martucci, Larry Unger, Norma Cusick, Mary Yoder, and James Brown
Ten Salisbury residents honored for volunteer community work
By Jim Marsh
Special to the Press
Ten Salisbury Township residents were honored last Thursday evening at a special recognition ceremony held at the township office building to honor their volunteer service to the community.
Those recognized were: Connie Kelly, wife of longtime Western Salisbury Fire Chief(now retired) Jack Kelly.
Although not officially a member of the fire department, Kelly was cited for more than 30 years of behind-the-scenes service. Kelly was nominated by current chief, Steve Schneider, who said she has administered the organization’s annual fund drive virtually single-handed, and she has maintained the resident and business address database. She has taken the database from handwritten ledger to its current computerized form.
Schneider said Kelly has also served as hostess for the fire company’s annual chief’s party for the four decades her husband was chief, as well as other fire department special occasions.
Also: James and Barbara Litzenberger for their long-time service as directors of the Salisbury Youth Association’s wrestling program, and as officers of the wrestling booster club.
Nominated by Commissioner Larry Unger, the Litzenbergers were cited for running fund-raising tournaments, attending league meetings, coaching, and as equipment managers.
Another husband-and-wife team, Daniel and Wendy Bellesfield. Dan was a volunteer for the Eastern Salisbury Fire/Ambulance and Rescue Squad for 20 years and served as both a president and lieutenant for the fire company. Wendy has been a volunteer with the Eastern Salisbury Ambulance Corps for 18 years with the ambulance corps..
Also cited: William Norton, former township patrol officer, detective, sergeant and chief of police.
After retiring as chief, Norton served for many years on the township’s Civil Service Commission. He was involved in the updating of police regulations and policies.
Additionally, Norton volunteered with the local Kiwanis group, and was a volunteer in youth fishing contests at Laubach Park in the township.
Two volunteers, Richard Kalady and Gregory Cichocki were nominated by Frank McCullough, a member of the township’s recreation advisory group.
Kalady has been a volunteer with the Hamilton Park Athletic Association for more than 11 years. He began as a coach in the Biddy league and coached teams up to the junior level. He also served on the group’s board and as president for two years. Kalady helped set up baseball fields before games, and helped assure that children had fun and played fair.
Cichocki was also a Hamilton Park volunteer. He was a coach and served as a director, set up game fields, designed the organization’s sweatshirt logo and coached other sports.
Janet Keim was also honored for longtime service to the community. Her accomplishments include 24 years as a township commissioner, co-founder of the Wildlands Conservancy, fours years of service on the Salisbury Recreation Committee, service on the township’s Bi-Centennial Committee and the Salisbury Township Historical Society.
She also continues to be involved in a myriad of other organizations, such as:
Clean Water Action, Little Lehigh Watershed Coalition, where she is vice president and the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Citizen’s Advisory Council.
She was also a citizen activist in a number of other environmental, clean water, land preservation associations.
Not present for the ceremony, but also recognized was Larry Schaffer who was instrumental in starting the SYA football program, and was its first director.
Schaffer was involved in coaching, in organizing and running fund raisers for the youth group. He started in-house flag football and SYA-sponsored teams in a local youth football league. |
