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Date: 11/3/2022
SOUTHWICK — A late educator, a longtime volunteer and two civic organizations were honored by the Southwick Rotary Club at a gala dinner on Oct. 19.
Marie Cigal Daniels, the late George LeBlanc, the Southwick Civic Fund and the Southwick Lions Club received Outstanding Vocational and Community Recognition Awards presented by Rotary President Mary Dee.
In a ceremony at Tucker’s Restaurant, Daniels was awarded as this year’s “Outstanding Volunteer” for her support of Rotary projects and for her other volunteer work in town, which included helping run the annual CROP Hunger Walk and the former jack o’lantern-carving festival at her family’s farm.
“The world could not survive without volunteers,” said Dee, who described Daniels as a key supporter of the group, even though she is not an official member.
Clayton Cigal, Marie’s brother, highlighted her work for Our Community Food Pantry, which extended beyond merely keeping the shelves stocked. He said she made personal connections with the clients, including a woman who suddenly had to take care of four of her grandchildren. Daniels helped the grandmother find beds and other necessities for the children, and would babysit them when needed.
“She treated them like they were her own,” Cigal said.
LeBlanc, an educator and guidance counselor at Southwick-Tolland Regional High School and 12-year member of the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School Committee, was honored posthumously. He died in February. Rotary members noted that he would have been recognized at the 2020 or 2021 awards, if they had not been canceled due to COVID-19. His widow and family members accepted the award on his behalf.
Former Police Chief Kevin Bishop said LeBlanc, as a teacher, helped set him, “a lost and confused teenager,” on the right path. He later came to appreciate LeBlanc’s philosophy — “there’s no such thing as a bad kid, just a kid making a bad decision” — when he returned to the high school as a police officer, to run a program educating students about the dangers of drug abuse.
School Superintendent Jennifer Willard called LeBlanc “a selfless gentleman” and an example for others.
She recalled that when the high school installed a memorial wall for alumni who had died in military service, “George was convinced there was a vet, one of ours, who was not being honored.” She said he spent hours looking through school records until he found that one former student.
Gary Larisse, a Rotary member who started the Community Recognition Awards, said LeBlanc was a good listener and a good counselor — not just for students but for his fellow staff. Larisse said LeBlanc was one of the few people he could talk to about his experiences in the Vietnam War after coming to Southwick in 1974.
LeBlanc also served his town outside the school district, serving for many years on the Zoning Board of Appeals and helping to establish the town beach. Select Board Chair Russell Fox said he helped lead the town beach project with LeBlanc, even though they differed politically, and valued how LeBlanc stood by him even when his own political allies questioned their work.
When it came time to honor the Lions Club and Civic Fund, both of which have collaborated with the Rotary on charity campaigns and public events in town, there was a bit of mutual gratitude and good-natured ribbing exchanged by the members of the three organizations.
“It’s wonderful to have them on our side,” Dee said of the Lions.
Mark Krynicki, past president of the Southwick Lions, and Joseph Deedy, president and founder of the Civic Fund, described the history of their organizations. Krynicki said his club supports local scholarships, events and the Southwick Recreation Center, and contributes to the Lions’ worldwide charitable efforts on eye care and sight loss.
In addition to hitting up the Lions and Rotary members for more support of Civic Fund events, Deedy spoke about his group’s plans for the former Southwick United Methodist Church property on College Highway, which the Civic Fund purchased after the congregation disbanded. His group plans to build an expanded home for Our Community Food Pantry, which is currently headquartered in a former house on the property, and to operate the church building as a function hall and nondenominational worship space. The former church offices on the first floor would be made available for use by social service agencies so that they have a private place in Southwick to conduct interviews and consultations.
“If you’re a nonprofit, that space is there for you,” he said. “If things work out, we’re going to bring a ton of social services to the town, that needs it.”
The Rotary also recognized two of its own, Dee and longtime Rotarian Ray Fox, with its highest honor, naming them Paul Harris Fellows. Dee said leading the Rotary for the past two years has been “the easiest job I’ve ever had,” because of the caliber of people involved with the club.
“You guys rock, because I would not be me without you guys,” she said. “You truly inspire me every day.”
Rotary member Ellen Miles said Fox had served as president of the club three or four times during his 40 years of membership, and was receiving his sixth Paul Harris recognition.