By ANNA GILGOFF

Special to The Press

The Lehigh County Office of Aging and Adult Service named 19 volunteers Unsung Heroes during a May 15 ceremony in the Zentz Center at Fellowship Community, Whitehall.

Honorees included David and Jean Adam, Raymond Bieak, Michael Carter, Marvin Charles, Frances Deprill, LuAnn Epstein, Rose Marie Fenstermacher, Charles Gardner, Carol Gonzalez, Donald Hill, Marc Kuster, Grace Moyer, Carole O’Connell, Douglas Roysdon, Mary Schaeffer, Bonnie Sipics, Lana Snyder and Roseanne Venditto.

Executive Director of Office of Aging and Adult Services JR Reed emceed the event

“President Kennedy designated May as senior citizen month in 1963,” he said. “Today we emphasize the myriad ways that older adults can remain active. Let us be inspired by their stories.”

The volunteers were lauded for their time and devotion to church and community programs, Meals on Wheels, Scouts and other organizations and their commitment to serve farmers, veterans, youth and those in need in the Lehigh Valley.

With the Mock Turtle Marionettes, Roysdon staged more than 150 performances, engaging a variety of artists while entertaining audiences.

The Adams spent decades preserving Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and keeping the dialect alive.

Charles headed the Institute for Learning in Retirement at Cedar Crest College, where hundreds of seniors could take any number of classes.

Each recipient was acknowledged individually before being presented with a bag of small gifts and a bouquet of flowers.

All will be acknowledged on digital billboards throughout the Lehigh Valley.

County Executive Phillips Armstrong addressed the large crowd at the event.

“We’re here today because of you who have volunteered your time to make a difference in the lives of so many,” Armstrong said. “The Lehigh Valley is the No. 1 place where people reach out and help our neighbors.”

Arthur DiLoreto, former deputy director of the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging, also spoke to those gathered.

“Senior volunteers are a very vital force in Pennsylvania and in our nation,” DiLoreto said. “Almost 60 years ago, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Older American Act into law.

“Every day since that law was enacted, people like you show that age is just a number.

“You have changed living for those who live in the Lehigh Valley.”

“Try volunteering,” urged Fenstermacher who gives her time at Cedarbrook. “It will change your life.”

That message was not lost on those who continue to serve others and reap the rewards of a life well lived.