New London CT Rotary - Community Awards

Our annual “Unsung Hero Award” was presented by Ann Stuart and Peg Curtin. This year there are two recipients sharing this award and we were pleased to be introduced to Jeannette Cavanaugh and Judy Cammerata, both of whom volunteer a great deal of their time to the Garde Arts Center.

Jeanette, who has lived in New London all her life, graduated from St. Joseph School and then attended the Williams Memorial Institute in the 1950’s (along with Peg Curtin). Her husband, John, was a New London police officer who passed away 23 years ago.

She was a stay-at-home mom until her youngest son went to school. Her four children are John, who works at Connecticut College; Michael who followed in his father’s footsteps and is a New London police officer; Christopher, who resides in New Britain; and Susan, who is a special-needs teacher at Mary Morrison.

Jeanette also has four grandchildren, two girls and two boys. The boys, Sean and Mark also volunteer at the Garde Arts Center.

For over thirty five years she worked as a lunch aid and currently works at a local New London laundromat. She also takes care of her eighty-seven year old sister who lives in the second apartment of her house. Jeanette’s favorite color is purple and she will be leaving tomorrow on her first cruise.

Our second honoree, Judy, is also a New London native who went to Jennings School and also graduated from Williams School (previously WMI) on Broad Street. She was in the last graduating class in 1954, after which Williams School moved to Connecticut College. Judy was married to John in 1970 and they moved around to New York, Texas and Florida, finally coming back to New London. While in Texas, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree and her only daughter, Brenda, was born while Judy was in Florida.

She became a GAC volunteer in 2002 and also is a founding member of Save Ocean Beach, volunteered at Summer Music; Spirit of Broadway and at New London Middle School. Judy has worked in real estate and assisted in her husband’s construction business and also taught music and gave piano lessons.

The Unsung Hero Award, as conferred by the club, shall be based on service to the community. It is an award of the club and it was established to honor a person within our community who has given volunteer service over the years without regard to recognition or reward.

The guidelines for selecting the recipient of the Unsung Hero Award include the following:

1.The recipient should be a volunteer who has worked in the community without recognition.
2.The recipient should be selected for community work that is not related to Rotary activities.
3.The recipient should be someone who has not been honored by an organization or public testimonial.
4.The recipient should be someone who has not held office in the sponsoring organization.
5.The recipient should be generally unknown to the majority of the community.

The Unsung Hero Committee, as appointed by the President, is responsible for the selection of each year's Unsung Hero. The award should traditionally be presented during National Volunteer Week, but may be presented at any other time.