On Wednesday November 6 2019, our local Rotary Club gathered together to celebrate our club’s contributions and some of our community’s finest members at a beautiful luncheon held at Lockport Town & Country Club.
Our District Governor Bob Artis was in attendance and thrilled to congratulate our Paul Harris Award recipients of 2019.
The annual program was organized and led by President Paul Lehman and President Elect Aaron Carlson.
 
Guest speaker Karen Rahill, principal of Desales Catholic School, spoke about the support the school has had from Rotary including a matching district grant as well as continuing collaborations thru EarlyAct and weekly volunteering. Our second speaker was Tara Schafer, executive director of Literacy NY of Buffalo-Niagara. She spoke about how the funds received from a matching district grant have allowed their organization to train more tutors as well as buy student specific materials.
 
The Paul Harris Award recognizes Rotary members and friends of The Rotary Foundation who elect to contribute $1,000 or more each year to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus Fund, or approved global grants. The purpose of the award is to honor and thank individuals for their generous, ongoing support of The Rotary Foundation. This year’s recipients are Rotarian Maria Biano and community member R. Scott Deluca, Esq.
 
Maria Biano is a distinguished award winning teacher from the Medina Central School District who retired in 2016. Since joining Rotary five years ago, she has worked tirelessly on many committees and on our board. Much of her volunteering focuses on the community’s youth through her positions as the Youth Exchange Counselor and Rotary Club Advisor to both EarlyAct (DeSales) and Interact (Lockport HS) clubs.
 
R. Scott Deluca is a Senior Counsel at Kavinoky Cook LLP. In addition to his long list of professional accomplishments, Scott is active in the community serving on the Board of Directors for the Historic Palace Theater as well as serving as secretary for Board of Governors of the Kenan Center and the organization’s first Vice President and human resources liaison.