Rotary Honors Pride of Workmanship Awardees
Three Pride of Workmanship awardees honored October 24
On October 24, the Rotary Club of Ithaca presented its 15th annual Pride of Workmanship awards to three deserving individuals. The award recognizes area employees whose outstanding work performance in their organization is “above and beyond the call of duty” and is instrumental in the achievement of the organization’s performance goals.
Rotary’s Pride of Workmanship Committee chair Grace Dalton of First Niagara Bank announced the 2012 winners:
Audrey Cooper, director of the Multicultural Resource Center for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County. For the past 12 years, Audrey has guided the Center in meeting its mission. Her nominators, Nancy Potter and Anna Steinkraus of Cornell Cooperative Extension, say that Audrey “has established MRC’s sponsorship of community cultural celebrations throughout the year, including MLK Jr. Day, Black History Month, Sister Friends, Dragon Boat Festival, and First People’s Festival. She works tirelessly to educate about race and racism. She is treasured by her team as a colleague and a community resource to help all embrace the rich diversity in our community.”
Penny Givin, senior administrative assistant in Cornell’s Office of Government and Community Relations. According to her nominator, Steve Johnson, vice president of government and community relations, Penny has excelled in her position for over 25 years. “She regularly interacts with internal colleagues, from the President’s office down, as well as elected representatives from Ithaca, Albany, and Washington D.C. She has a welcoming style with an emphasis on follow-up and a ‘can do’ approach to her work. No task is too complicated for Penny. ‘Pride of workmanship’ are the perfect words to describe Penny Givin and her contributions over many quality years at Cornell University.”
Laurie Hultberg, recreation assistant at Longview, an Ithacare Community. Laurie has dedicated her life and skills to serving the elderly for over a quarter century. She was nominated by Kerry Barnes, Longview’s director of development and community relations, who says Laurie “consistently puts others before herself, whether taking Longview residents on country rides on the weekends, to coaxing artwork out of seniors who have never lifted a paintbrush before, to leading Tai Chi classes and advocating for the hearing impaired.”