Those of us in Liberty Rotary Club have known for quite some time about the enormous contributions Gary Siegel makes to our community and our world.  It is only fitting that he be awarded the prestigious S.Y.D.A. Foundation Community Service Award for 2015.  We are so very proud to say that such a great man is part of our Club.  Congratulations to Gary for this outstanding recognition, of which he is so very worthy.  Below are some photos of the ceremony and the bio of some of Gary's contributions, prepared by the S.Y.D.A. Foundation.
 
 

As a music educator for over 30 years in the Liberty Central School District, Gary mentored thousands of young people.  He taught students musical skills, helped to build their self-esteem and instilled discipline, all qualities that help ensure their success as adults. During his tenure, Gary served as chair of Sullivan County Music Educators Association and New York State School Music Association Music Festivals.  He organized more than a dozen Area, State and County festivals, engaging thousands of young people from the greater Hudson Valley.

Mr. Siegel has also been an outstanding leader in his community, with decades of service as an organizer and fundraiser for a wide variety of projects. Gary was a founding member of Liberty ALIVE, a precursor to Sullivan Renaissance, a beautification and community development program.

Currently, he is Co-chair of the WSUL/WVOS radio Heart-a-thon, which has raised thousands of dollars annually to benefit Catskill Regional Medical Center.

For the last five years, Siegel has served on a committee to organize a series of fundraising events sponsored by Thunder 102 radio to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  He can often be seen at Bethel Woods selling fundraising cards, bowling in a bowl-a-thon, or swinging a club at the annual golf outing–all fundraising events that he helped organize and for which he built sponsorship and support.

As Co-chair of the Liberty Rotary Club Haiti Clean Water Project, Siegel raised funds for and participated in two of Archangel Airborne’s missions to Haiti to deliver water filtration systems to Haitian families. He is planning a third trip to Haiti in November 2015.

After retiring as a teacher in 2013, he started a tour company, CD Trips LLC, which organizes bus tours from Sullivan County and donates a portion of its proceeds to many of the charities that he supports. In 2014, CD Trips donated over $23,000 to local charitable organizations.

In 2013, Siegel created the Barry Foster Memorial Fund, which provides financial support for children to experience team sports and participate in field trips to visit special places such as Radio City Music Hall where they might not otherwise be able to go.

He has been married to his wife Judy for 30 years and is the father of two adult children, Georgia and Max.