October 31, 2001
Contact:
Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
sray@middlebury.edu
Posted: October 31, 2001
MIDDLEBURY,
VT - Middlebury College President John M. McCardell Jr.
will present Bicentennial Citizens’ Medals to five residents
of Addison County at a ceremony and dinner held in their
honor at the Middlebury Inn on the evening of Friday, Nov.
2. The medal recipients, who will be recognized for their
contributions to the community, are Richard A. Goodro,
Dorothy B. Neuberger, Sonja J. Olson, Marguerite Ann Quinn,
and James D. Ross.
Eric
Davis, secretary of the College, said, “The medals will be
presented to residents of Addison County who have helped
strengthen the community, and whose service has been
sustained and distinguished. Oftentimes, their efforts have
gone unrecognized for many years.”
Last
November, during the College’s Bicentennial celebration,
Middlebury College honored 10 residents of Addison County
with the presentation of the first Bicentennial Citizens’
Medals. “We decided to continue the practice again this fall
since the Bicentennial celebration truly demonstrated that
the town and the College share both a history and a future,”
said Davis. Nominations for the 2001 citizens’ medals were
submitted by members of the College community, and the
winners were selected by McCardell in consultation with
members of the administration. The program will be supported
through an anonymous gift to the Bicentennial
Campaign.
A
lifelong resident of the area who was born in Middlebury and
lives in East Middlebury, Richard A. Goodro will be
recognized for his involvement in a lengthy and varied list
of community organizations, from the Rotary Club and the
Town Hall Theatre Committee to the Vermont State Public
Records Board and the Secretary of State’s Election
Committee. The former town clerk and town treasurer of
Middlebury for many years, he has also served as cub master
for the East Middlebury Cub Scouts and chair of the
Middlebury Union High School Music Boosters. Goodro and his
family have been hosts to numerous exchange
students.
Dorothy
B. Neuberger, a member of the Middlebury College class of
1958, has lived in Middlebury for 46 years. She worked for
27 years for the Counseling Service of Addison County
(CSAC), based primarily at Middlebury Union High School.
Neuberger continues to work part-time as a substitute in
special and alternative education programs, as a consultant
for
CSAC,
and as an instructor at the Community College of Vermont
(CCV). A former member of
the
Middlebury school board and a former trustee and chair of
the Porter Hospital board, she is a current member of the
board of directors for the statewide organization Youth
Empowerment. Neuberger is the winner of the Governor’s Award
for Service to Children and the CCV Outstanding Instructor
Medal.
A
resident of Middlebury since 1976, Sonja J. Olson is the
director of the Vermont Coalition of Clinics for the
Uninsured (VCCU), an organization which coordinates the
activities of nine independent health care clinics across
the state that provide care to the uninsured and
under-insured with the help of a small paid staff and
volunteer healthcare professionals. Last year the
organization served approximately 3,500 individuals,
including 400 clients at two clinics in Addison County where
Olson once served as director. Prior to joining VCCU, she
was the director of the Mary Johnson Children’s Center in
Middlebury.
Born
and raised in Vergennes, Marguerite Ann Quinn has lived in
Middlebury since 1966. Currently the development coordinator
of Elderly Services, she served from 1968-1998 as the
managing court reporter of the State of Vermont. She was
also the personnel director for the court administrator’s
office from 1996-1998. Quinn has been involved in a host of
community service organizations, including the Weybridge
School board, the League of Women Voters, Project
Independence and the United Way of Addison
County.
James
D. Ross, a member of the Middlebury College class of 1951,
has lived in Middlebury a total of 49 years. In 1956 he
joined the staff of the College, eventually becoming
business manager. He is now employed by the College as a
consultant. Ross has volunteered with numerous community
organizations, serving as a member of the Porter Hospital
board for 26 years, the Addison County Chamber of Commerce
(ACCOC) board for 25 years, and the Addison County Community
Action Group (ACCAG) board since 1999. An advocate for the
disabled, he is the recipient of several awards, including
the Governor’s Award for distinguished service from the
Vermont Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities.
The
program will be supported through an anonymous gift to the
Bicentennial Campaign.