Contact: Laura Falt, Middletown Rotary Club Public Relations Committee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: LAURA FALT, MIDDLETOWN ROTARY CLUB PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE PHONE: 860.335.7526 E-MAIL: [email protected]

MIDDLETOWN ROTARY CLUB HOSTS 2014 AWARDS CEREMONY

MIDDLETOWN, CT- The Middletown Rotary Club held its 2014 Awards Ceremony at the Inn at Middletown on May 21. The Paul Harris Community Service Fellowship Awards, Rotarian of the Year, and Service Above Self Student Scholarship Awards were presented.

The Paul Harris Fellowship recognition was created in memory of the Rotary Club’s founder as a way to show appreciation for contributions to the Foundation's charitable and educational program. Paul Harris Fellows are advocates of the Foundation's goals of world peace and international understanding. The Paul Harris Fellow is presented to community members and Rotarians who have made a significant contribution and difference in our community. In addition to the recognition, certificate, and special pin, the Club gives $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation in the recipient’s name. The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.

This year, four recipients received this honor: Jean M. D’Aquila, Esq., Robert Fusari, Sr., Cliff M. O’Callahan, M.D., Ph.D., and Jeff Walter.

In addition to her almost 23 years in private practice of law, D’Aquila has demonstrated immense commitment and dedication to her community over the years. Her current involvement includes the Middlesex United Way, Inc.; Director of Liberty Bank; and Director of Diocese of Norwich, Outreach to Haiti, Inc. She has also served as volunteer director of Middlesex Central CT Chapter of the American Red Cross (former board chairperson); MARC; Community Resources, Ltd. (former board chairperson); Literacy Volunteers of Greater Middletown; and Middlesex Habitat for Humanity of Connecticut, Inc.

Fusari is president of Real Estate Service of CT (RESC), a company he co-founded in 1978. He also for the past 60 years has developed and built projects ranging from apartment developments to custom homes. Committed to increasing affordable housing, his community service activities have included: chair of the properties committee for HOPE partnership; chair of the Land Acquisition Community for the Middlesex Habitat for Humanity; past-president and director of Martin House, director and past chairman of Middlesex Chamber of Commerce and past chair and founder of the Chamber’s Environment, Energy and Land Use Committee; and co-chair of the Middlesex United Way Leadership Council administering the Middlesex County 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. O’Callahan is a pediatrician and on faculty of the Family Medicine Residency program with Middlesex Hospital. His community activities include Middlesex Hospital Sayaxche Guatemala Project- Hospital Physician Advisor/ “Champion”; Fit for Kids, Middlesex Hospital, Physician Advisor/ “Champion”; Opportunity Knocks for Middletown’s Young Children, Physician Advisor/ “Champion” and Health Partner; School Readiness Impact Team; member of Middlesex United Way; and Frenotomy Specialty Physician.

Walter is past-president of the Middletown Rotary Club where he has been an active member since January 1990. He also is a former recipient of the Paul Harris Award (2010). As a leader in the behavioral health field both nationally and within Connecticut, he currently serves as first vice chairman of the board of directors for the National Council for Community behavioral Healthcare, the largest association of behavioral health care providers in the country. Walter also serves on Connecticut’s Medicaid Care Management Council; he is co-chair with State Representative Christopher Lyddy of the Connecticut Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council; and is past president of Connecticut Community Providers Association, the Connecticut Association of Substance Abuse Agencies, and Advanced Behavioral Health Inc.

Cheryl Duey was honored as the Rotarian of the Year. Duey has been an active member of the Middletown Rotary Club since 2002, served on the Club’s board of directors, and is a Paul Harris Fellow. She is currently the chairperson for the Community Investment and Grants Committee and has been instrumental in the developing a family literacy project for Middletown parents who speak English as a second language and want to help their young children learn to read. Duey has also been working on a project to bring water irrigation to a small rural farming community in Ecuador.

Service Above Self Student Scholarship Awards were presented to Marissa Aldieri, a senior at Middletown High School; Nicholas Sowa, a senior from Xavier High School; and Leandra Hylton, a senior at Coginchaug High School who received the Arthur and Edythe Director Family Rotary Education Award.

In addition to requiring a 3.0 GPA or higher, the scholarship recipients were chosen based on Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self”, rewarding students that showed extraordinary volunteer service. Scholarships are awarded thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Middletown Rotary members throughout the year. In addition to scholarships, The Middletown Rotary Club donates more than $15,000 to local charities, non-profit organizations, and community projects.

Members of the Rotary Club of Middletown are business, social, and civic leaders who make a positive difference in their community and in the world through humanitarian service, education, high ethics, and goodwill. The club maintains its membership from those who live and/or work in Middletown as well as the surrounding towns of Cromwell, Portland, Durham, Middlefield and Higganum. For information on the Middletown Rotary Club, contact Trish Witzky-Lambert by phone at 860.344.1221, by email at [email protected] or visit www.middletownrotary.org . The Middletown Rotary Club is also on Facebook! PHOTO CAPTION 1: Pictured left to right are Paul Harris Community Service Fellowship Award recipients Robert Fusari, Sr., Jean D’Aquila, Esq., Cliff O’Callahan, M.D., Ph.D., and Jeff Walter.

PHOTO CAPTION 2: Pictured left to right are Service Above Self Scholarship Award recipients Marissa Aldieri, Nicholas Sowa, and Leandra Hylton. PHOTO CAPTION: Rotarian of the Year, Cheryl Duey, with Middletown Rotary Club President Garry Mullaney.