Tom Trumble, Doug Alexander

The Shepherdstown Rotary Club recently announced and honored its 2010 Paul Harris Award recipients at one of its regular meetings at Shepherdstown’s Bavarian Inn.

This year, the Club bestowed three Paul Harris Awards. The recipients were as follows:

Tom Trumble is a past Club president, a Vietnam veteran, and past member of the Jefferson County Board of Zoning Appeals. Trumble expressed his thanks and said his time in Rotary represents “the most important years of my life.”

Ed Herendeen is the founder and Producing Director of the Shepherdstown-based Contemporary American Theater Festival, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The festival, which is one of the most notable annual events in the community, draws audiences from across the nation and brings in over $1.5 million each year. Herendeen said: “This means a lot but let’s look toward the next 20 years.”

The Rev. George Thomas “GT” Schramm has been rector of Shepherdstown’s Trinity Episcopal Church for the last 27 years. He has selflessly donated his time and energy to numerous community activities within and outside his church, most recently leading a drive to construct a new facility to house the hospice organization that serves the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Rev. Schramm said he considered the Paul Harris Award “a great honor.”

The Paul Harris Awards, named after the founder of Rotary, were established by Rotary International in 1957. Currently, over $70 million is raised annually worldwide through the Award program. These funds are used to support to key Rotary goals, such as international exchanges, grants to teachers, student scholarships, and a campaign to eradicate polio worldwide.

The Shepherdstown Club bestows its Paul Harris Awards community members who exemplify the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self.” The Club makes a $1,000 contribution from its own funds to the Rotary International Foundation on each awardees’ behalf.