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Paul Harris Awards - Community Service

( Left to Right -  John Carmon, Dr. Arnold Goldman, Lieutenant Kelly Walsh and Bill Henson)

In his introductory remarks, Club President Gary Miller termed Paul Harris Award Day as his "favorite day of the Rotary year."

Joanne Santiago, the Club's Rotary Foundation Committee Chair, gave an overview of the Rotary Foundation and its history. Some of the important dates she mentioned were: 1917, when the endowment started; 1929, when the Foundation gave its first gift, ($500 to help children with developmental challenges); 1947, when the Ambassadorial Scholarship was started; and 1985, when Polio Plus began its fight.

The Endowment began with $17. In the years since, over $1 Billion has been contributed. The Rotary Club of Avon-Canton has donated $230,000 to the Rotary Foundation.

John Carmon

(Left to Right - Joanne Santiago, John Carmon and Peter Vignati)

John and his wife Linda have 3 children and 8 grandchildren. John grew up on the second floor of his father's funeral home and learned very young to strive for "empathetic dedication to the people you serve."

When not busy with the Carmon Funeral Home, John is tremendously involved with the Windsor Kiwanis, Mary's Place (a children's grief support group he helped establish in 1991), the Windsor Memorial Cemetery, the Avon Chamber of Commerce, the National Funeral Director's Association (he is a past president) and the Connecticut Funeral Director's Association. In 2001, he established grief support groups in New York City after the 9/11 terrorist acts.

John's charitable travels have taken him to Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Jordan, and Haiti. He believes "we should share our abundance with others."

John called his Paul Harris Award "a special honor from a special group." He was introduced by Joanne Santiago.

Doctor Arnold Goldman

(Left to Right - Phil Worley, Arnold Goldman and Peter Vignati)

Dr. Arnold Goldman is a practicing veterinarian and owns Canton Animal Hospital. He is the founding President of the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Foundation. He has served in a wide varietyt of leadership roles in civic and professional organizations and is a consultant to the Capitol Region Council of Governments.

Arnie helped with the Passage of the Connecticut Public Act that mandates consideration of household pets in disaster planning. He also helped to pass legislation giving the CT Department of Agriculture stronger control over the shelter dog importation industry.

He was honored by the American Kennel Club in 2016, the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 2013, the HAVEN Program in 2012, the Canton Chamber of Commerce in 2010 and the Capitol Region Council of Governments in 2006. Arnie speaks throughout the United States on issues involving animal welfare and veterinary medicine.

Locally, Arnie is a member of the Republican Town Committee, Vice Chair of the Board of Finance and Treasurer of the North Canton Volunteer Fire Association.

He shared that he is "very humbled to receive the Paul Harris Award. " He declared that, although he had to leave Rotary because of scheduling problems, "Rotary is never far from my heart."

Arnie was introduced by Phil Worley whom he has known since they opened their businesses together in 1992.

Lieutenant Kelly Walsh

(Left to Right - Josh Gillooly, Lieutenant Kelly Walsh and Peter Vignati)

Lieutenant Kelly Walsh began her law enforcement career in March 2003 as a police officer in the Avon Police Department. She was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 2010 and is second in command of the Department. She oversees the Patrol and Operations Divisions of the Department.

In 2005, Kelly was assigned to the FBI Computer Crimes Task Force in New Haven, CT. In 2009, she received her Certified Forensic Computer Examiner certification. With this special expertise, she oversees the Digital Forensic Unit with the Avon Department.

Kelly is a board member of the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Council, serving as Connecticut's Northwestern Region Liaison. She organizes and participates in Special Olympics events year round in support of the program.  Her involvement with Special Olympics has been life long.

Kelly coordinates and runs a week-long Youth Leadership Program for teenagers in Connecticut through the FBI National Academy Associates CT Chapter. Touring Connecticut's law enforcement landmarks is a part of the week-long curriculum.

Beginning this Spring, Kelly now teaches an Online Masters Program course in Introductions to Investigations for the University of New Haven.

Kelly stated she was "honored and surprised" to receive her Paul Harris Award.

Lieutenant Kelly Walsh was introduced by Josh Gillooly.

Bill Henson

(Left To Right - Gary Miller, Bill Henson and Peter Vignati)

Bill Henson was "born at an early age in Brooklyn." He started out in Retail/Wholesale auto parts, moved on to computer automation and settled into developing software for insurance policy management, integration with carriers and third parties.

He moved to Canton in 1995 with his wife Patty and their three children. Bill coached soccer, baseball and basketball for each of his kids up to and including their high school years. In 2001, Bill joined the Canton Lions Club because he "wanted to do something more to help others, and the Lions organization held ideals that I held."

Bill has been the Lions representative to the FOCUS On Canton group. He also worked on the Citizens Committee to search for a new Police Chief, and he is now on the committee researching alternatives for the Fire Department assets in town.

He asserts "as is the case for most, juggling work and life is always challenging, but I try to do my part whenever possible."  He continued "it's all about doing the work that needs to be done."

Bill was introduced by Gary Miller.