Past Distinguished Citizen Award Honorees for 2004
Philip C. Povero
- Phil is the Ontario County Sheriff, a post he has held since 1990.
He has served in law enforcement since 1972, serving as corrections and
communications officer, uniformed road patrol officer, criminal investigator,
and ultimately County Sheriff.
He is past president and current executive committee member of the New
York State Sheriffs’ Association and Chairman of the Finger Lakes Law
Enforcement Academy Board of Directors. He
is also co-chairman of the New York State Law Enforcement Committee on
Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security. He
has solidly supported the (DARE) Drug Abuse Resistance Program in all Ontario
County school districts outside of Geneva and Canandaigua.
He served on the Canandaigua Safety Council, a Division of the
Canandaigua Chamber of Commerce.
Phil has been involved in Scouting almost all of his life, both as a
youth member and as an adult. He
achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in Troop 16, Gorham and was active in the Order
of the Arrow Lodge. He stayed
involved after achieving his Eagle Scout award and was active as a Cub Scout Den
Leader, Camp Babcock-Hovey Camp Counselor,
Chartered Partner Representative for his Explorer Post.
Phil has served as a volunteer with United Way of Ontario County, the
Finger Lakes Community College Foundation Board and the Partnership for Ontario
County. In addition he has served for several years on the Executive Board
of the Finger Lakes Council, Boy Scouts of America and he has assisted with the
Council’s annual golf tournament.
The Finger Lakes Council is extremely proud to present the Distinguished Citizen
Award to Philip C. Povero for his untiring service to fellow Ontario Countians.
Phil resides in Gorham, NY with his wife, Caroline Marie Reals Povero and
they have two grown children.
LaVerne
M. Sessler
- Verne is founder of L.M. Sessler Excavating & Wrecking, Inc. and
numerous other businesses. He
has served on the boards of Waterloo Lions Club, CNY Kidney Foundation, Seneca
County United Fund, Seneca County IDA, Taylor Brown/Geneva General Hospital,
National Association of Demolition Contractors, US Selective Service Review
Board and the Seneca County Board of Supervisors.
Verne was president of several organizations including: Waterloo Lions
Club, Waterloo PTA, Seneca County Magistrate’s Association, Waterloo Little
League, Waterloo Jaycees and NYS Jaycees. He
was chairman of Seneca County Easter Seals and the Border City Water District.
Other memberships include: Seneca Falls Elks Club, National Association
of Woodies (Wood Bodied Vehicles),
As his children were growing up through Scouting, Verne served on
Waterloo’s Troop 81 Committee.
Verne has been recognized for over thirty years with many awards, including: One
of Five Outstanding Men of NYS, the Outstanding Man of Waterloo, Outstanding
District NYS Jaycees President, Outstanding Board Member of the National Kidney
Foundation, Finger Lakes Social Ministry’s Sharing the Light Humanitarian
Award, Lions International Community Service & Life Membership Award, Seneca
County Chamber of Commerce’s First Citizen of the Year Award, and the National
Association of Demolition Contractors Lifetime Achievement Award.
Verne and his wife, Barbara A. Park (deceased 1997), have three grown children:
Jane, Craig and Vern, Jr. and eight grandchildren.
The Yancey Family
George &
Thelma Yancey: Both are the founders of Heluva Good Cheese who are
known as employers of many volunteer fire fighters, ambulance personnel and
armed services personnel. Thelma has been active with the March of Dimes,
is a ‘many gallon blood donor’, and a member of the Myers Community Hospital
Board. She was the March of
Dimes’ Mother of the Year. She
was a North Rose Church ‘mitten mom’, sending mittens to orphans at
Christmas time. George
is a World War II veteran, a member of the Elks Club, also a frequent blood
donor and a member of the North Rose Board of Education.
Geff Yancey: Geff is the former CEO of Heluva Cheese and Perry's
Ice Cream, two of area's leading dairy food businesses. He has been a
leader with numerous volunteer organizations including United Way of Wayne
County, Red Cross, Rotary International, and the United Way of Greater
Rochester. Geff has spent numerous hours of volunteer time working to
improve the quality of healthcare. He has served as chair of the Newark-Wayne
Hospital Board of Directors, one of the nation's leading cancer research
facilities. Geff is pas president of the AAA of Rochester, a past Chairman
of the Wayne County Republician Committee, and was a candidate for the
state-wide elective office of Lt. Governor in 1990.
He also led former President Bush’s New York State Presidential
Campaign.
John
Yancey: John is President of Yancey’s Fancy, a cheese manufacturing plant
in Corfu, NY and has been owner of five different family-related corporations in
upstate New York. He has served on
the board of Meyer’s Hospital (Via Health) in Sodus, and provided leadership
roles with both the United Way of Wayne County campaign and the Arthritis
Foundation campaign. He has been active with Meals on Wheels and the ABVI
Goodwill organizations.
Sue
(Yancey) Van Acker:
Sue is currently the Work Experience Coordinator for Wayne Central High School.
She was the corporate controller and director of human resources for
Heluva Good Cheese.
Her volunteer work includes service as Huron Town Representative-Wayne
County Youth Board, and service on Computers for Education Committee for Sodus
Central School.
She has served as aboard member of the Finger Lakes Council, BSA and
Via Health of Wayne Foundation.
Sue also served as vice president and president of
the Finger Lakes Work Experience
Association
Yolanda Fiorentino
Schofield
- Yolanda is a Fine Arts Graphic Artist who has been celebrating and
commemorating the Finger Lakes area through her brush and pen for decades. Her
summers have been spent in the Geneva area on her houseboat named ‘Lo Studio'
focusing on area landmarks through her favorite medium, pen and ink.
Yolanda studied at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and later graduated from
Boston University. She enjoyed a
successful career as a display artist and commercial decorator in Boston,
Hartford and New York. Her work has
appeared in a newspaper series entitled “Landmarks—Our Heritage” in the
Finger Lakes Times of Geneva, NY.
Her canal series has depicted numerous sites along the Finger Lakes
section of the New York State Canal System.
The entire canal series is to be featured in the Tourist
Information-Cultural Arts Center, slated to open in Seneca Falls in 2005-2006.
As a Florida resident, she portrays area landmarks highlighting that state’s
heritage. One drawing of 1835 Fort
Ann, at the site of the Old Haul-over Canal on Merritt Island is in the recently
published History of Brevard County.
Yolanda has been commissioned to create drawings by numerous area businesses and
municipalities, such as Speedway, Onondaga Savings Bank, The Governors’
Mansion in Albany, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Historical Society and
currently, the Seneca Falls Savings Bank. She has also done prints for the
Finger Lakes Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and, of course, the Finger Lakes
Council, Boy Scouts of America. To
date, Yolanda has created twelve pen and ink drawings depicting various
buildings and natural sites at Camp Babcock Hovey in Ovid.
Yolanda and her husband, Arnold, currently live in Melbourne, Florida most of
the year and summer on the canal in Geneva, New York.