The Lake Placid Rotary Club has named Keela Dates as the recipient of its annual Service Above Self community-service award.

Dates's work with at-risk and orphaned children in Kenya has helped many disadvantaged children who are threatened by poverty, disease and social unrest. Dates is the founder of Reason2Smile, a non-profit organization and Web site dedicated to assisting the Jambo Jipya School project in Mombasa, Kenya.

Dates, a 2006 graduate of Wells College in Aurura, is the maternal granddaughter of Jim and Keela Rogers of Lake Placid. Her uncle, Jamie Rogers, is the mayor of the village of Lake Placid and her uncle, Nip, is a well-known local artist.

Dates journeyed to Kenya following her college graduation with the intention of committing a year to volunteer work before beginning a career in elementary education. Instead, the children of Jambo Jipya School have become her passion and life's work.

Dates has returned to the United States to undertake a $50,000 fundraising campaign to purchase additional acreage for the construction of new classrooms, a dormitory, recreation facilities and farmland to grow crops for the school.

Further information can be obtained at www.reason 2smile.org.

Robert Garrow, retired principal of Plattsburgh Elementary School, has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the Irving Schwartz Distinguished Retiree Award by the School Administrators Association of New York State.

Garrow "has been a dedicated leader with an exceptional commitment to education that has spanned more than 35 years," according to the association.

He began his career in education as a teacher with the Peru Central School District and then the Plattsburgh City School District. After five years, he moved into administration. He served as elementary principal for 30 years before retiring. Garrow is a charter member of the association and has served as a regional representative for many years. In addition, he has been active in many civic organizations, including the American Red Cross, Lions Club, Clinton County Youth Bureau and SUNY Plattsburgh College Council.

Garrow is the commissioner of ethics for the New York Public High School Athletic Association.

The Upstate History Alliance awarded the Adirondack Attic History Project with a Certificate of Commendation during its Award of Merit presentation at the Albany Institute of History and Art, as part of the Upstate History Alliance/Museum Association of New York Annual Conference.

The award's recipient, Saranac Lake author Andy Flynn, created the Adirondack Attic History Project in 2003 to collect artifact-based, human-interest stories. The project includes a syndicated newspaper column, an annual book series, public programs and donations to the Adirondack Museum's artifact collection in Blue Mountain Lake.

Kirsten L. Staley of Saranac has earned an award for logging 100 hours in the American Quarter Horse Association Horseback Riding Program. The program recognizes and rewards association members for time spent with their American quarter horses in activities such as trail rides, working cattle, pleasure driving and simply riding.

Susan Boyle of Moriah received the Jonathan Weingold Scholarship from New York State ARC Inc. for the 2008-09 academic year.

The scholarship is awarded yearly to a full-time employee of a chapter of the parent organization NYSARC Inc. Boyle was nominated for the scholarship by her employer, Mountain Lake Services, a provider for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.