Newsmakers: July 5, 2008

July 05, 2008 04:00 am

— 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.
Boyle has worked for Mountain Lake Services for 11 years and attended North Country Community College in Ticonderoga and received her associate's degree in human services in May. She plans to attend Plattsburgh State in the fall to continue working toward her degree in social work, concentrating on working with individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Megan Roppolo of Saranac Lake has received a Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award from SUNY Binghamton. Each year, Binghamton University honors the special achievements of graduate students who serve as teaching assistants and instructors. Nominations are invited from all graduate programs.
Roppolo, a chemistry doctoral student, "is a role model for what a teaching assistant should be," according to the university. "Her organizational skills, poise and self-confidence as head TA for the large introductory chemistry course have garnered respect."
The County of Clinton Industrial Development Agency has elected member Trent Trahan of Chazy as its chairperson. He replaces Charles Gijanto, who recently moved from the area. Trahan is the president and CEO of Champlain Telephone Co., which, with its subsidiary, PrimeLink, provides telecommunication's products and services in Champlain and Plattsburgh.
A Clinton County native, Trahan is an alumnus of Plattsburgh State, where he has also served as president of the Plattsburgh State University Foundation.
Joanne Kennedy of Peru has won the grand prize in the Adirondack Regional Tourism Council's online photo contest for her photograph of "Lake Colden at Sunset." She will receive GORETEXR gloves, footwear and hats valued at $500.
Kennedy's photo was chosen by members of the public, who logged onto the Web site to cast their vote for the winning photo. The grand-prize winner was chosen from three finalists who were selected from a pool of 300 entries in three separate categories: family and friends, outdoor winter recreation and winter scenics.
Kennedy's photo was a finalist in the Outdoor Winter Recreation category.
The 2008 Adirondack Mountain Club calendar, "With Wilderness at Heart," has received the bronze award in the Best Non-Profit Retail category from the Calendar Marketing Association. A panel of judges rated the entries on the quality of artwork, photography and graphics; the readability and information quality of the calendar grid; the originality of the calendar; the complete execution of the calendar subject or theme; and the fulfillment of the category entered.
The 2008 edition of the calendar features accomplished nature photographers Nancie Battaglia, Robert Marrone, Hardie Truesdale, Mark Bowie and Joanne Kennedy. Among the monthly photographs are views of Lower Saranac Lake, the Bog River, Mount Haystack, the Gothics, Platte Clove and Blackhead Mountain in the Catskills and Follensby Clear Pond. Publications staff members Ann Hough of Keene, Andrea Masters of Ballston Spa and Nicole Farrell of Lake George produced the calendar.
The Boquet River Association has announced the appointment of Julie A. Martin to the position of executive director. Martin earned her bachelor of science degree in natural resources, with a concentration in environmental science, from Paul Smith's College in 2001. She accepted a watershed management position with the Lake George Association, where she gained project-management skills, as well as grant writing and management experience. She is pursuing a master of arts degree from Plattsburgh in liberal studies with a concentration in administration and leadership.