Rotary celebrates Citizen of the Year and Community Service Awards

By Roger Gavan
WARWICK — The historic Landmark Inn was filled to capacity on Wednesday evening, Oct. 25, for the annual Warwick Valley Rotary Club presentation of the Citizen of the Year and Outstanding Community Service awards celebration.
Guests enjoyed an open bar social hour and hors d'oeuvres prepared by award winning chef/owner Michael DiMartino and served throughout the evening.
Warwick Rotary President Dave Eaton welcomed the guests and presented the awards.
Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton served as Master of Ceremonies. And County Legislators Barry Cheney and Paul Ruszkiewicz along with Mayor Michael Newhard spoke about and presented special proclamations to each recipient.
Stan Martin: Citizen of the YearStan Martin received the 2017-18 Warwick Citizen of the Year award and Tom Buchanan and Paul Orthmann received Outstanding Community Service Awards for their numerous and important contributions to the community.
Martin, the former editor of The Warwick Advertiser along with other Straus Newspaper publications and a Warwick Rotary past president, was nominated to be Citizen of the Year by Marge King-Porter. She described his numerous award winning contributions to the community and also his 150 blood and platelet donations.
"Do you have any blood left?" quipped Sweeton who went on to describe a very long list of Martin's awards and achievements including serving as an Army Captain in the Signal Corps and currently as Vice Commander of American Legion Post 214. He also holds private and commercial pilot's licenses with instrument, single and multi-engine ratings.
Martin will now join a long list of Citizens of the Year inscribed on a plaque that hangs in Town Hall.
The Warwick Valley Rotary Club also selected Tom Buchanan and Paul Orthmann as Warwick's 2017-18 Outstanding Community Service Award winners.
Both men were selected for their years of volunteer contributions to the local community.
Tom BuchananBuchanan is a past president of the Warwick Lions Club and helped organize the first Lions Labor Day 5K Run/Walk. And in the early years he was very much involved with Applefest.
Buchanan also served on the Board of Directors of the award-winning Queen Village Queens Drum and Bugle Corps. And he drove their bus to and from numerous parades.
Buchanan has also been a member of the Warwick lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows for more than 20 years.
Paul OrthmannOutstanding Community Service Award winner Paul Orthmann is known to operate quietly and, for the most part, anonymously.
Every two weeks, for example, he drives to the Hudson Valley Food Bank in Cornwall-on-Hudson to load his truck with a thousand pounds of food for the Warwick Ecumenical Food Pantry. And for the past 15 years, Orthmann and his family have purchased, put together and delivered 100 Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets of food and presents for needy families.
Through his Hannah Charitable Foundation, named after his grandparents, more than $100,000 has been donated to Warwick non-profit organizations, including the Warwick Humane Society, the Warwick Ecumenical Food Pantry, Backpack Snack Attack, Winslow Therapeutic Riding Center, and the Alamo Farm Workers Center.
He is currently supporting many other community programs.
- Roger Gavan