By Medina Khalil

Photo by Laurie Spens

The Pawling Rotary Club will hold its thirteenth annual golf outing and dinner on June 2^nd at the historic Quaker Hill Country Club, where Susan Stone will be celebrated as this year’s honoree.   Those who are familiar with Susan’s dedication to service, and her passionate adherence to Rotary’s motto, “Service Above Self,” know that her leadership and commitment to volunteerism on behalf of the Pawling community, and particularly its youngsters, has been exceptional and far-reaching. 

In 2009, Susan and her husband Jeremy moved from Westchester County, where they raised their family, to Pawling, where Susan quickly immersed herself in community life.  She volunteered with Pawling Public Radio, eventually joining its board, developing and chairing its education committee, and spearheading both on-air and on-site programs for students of all ages including a summer internship program for high school seniors and college students.  She brought Operation Respect, an anti-bullying organization, to the Pawling schools.  Thanks to her fundraising efforts, anti-bullying workshops were provided for school faculty at no cost, at a time when New York State required anti-bullying training but neglected to fund it.  Because Operation Respect had been co-founded by the late Peter Yarrow (of Peter Paul and Mary fame), Mr. Yarrow agreed to perform in concert for the Pawling community.  The event, which was produced by Susan and included the choruses of all community elementary and middle schools in performance with Mr. Yarrow, served as a major fundraiser for the radio station.

In 2015, Susan joined the Pawling Rotary Club and was quickly recruited to organize Rotary’s 75^th anniversary dinner.  In short order, she joined the Pawling Rotary board and currently leads the Club’s communication committee, a position in which she has used her writing, PR, and marketing skills to promote the Club and its various activities.  She developed Rotary’s Fall Fest in 2018, growing it into a major community-wide event for Pawling’s children, and she served as Rotary’s president during the 2022-2023 Rotary year, significantly increasing membership and focusing her efforts on fundraising to better realize the Club’s mission of supporting Pawling’s youngsters.

Susan also served on the board of the Pawling library, ushering in the library’s centennial celebration as chair of the centennial committee, promoting the development of the Kids Corner, the much-anticipated children’s wing, and spearheading fundraising efforts for this major centennial project.  Furthermore, through several grants from the Oliver S. and Jennie R. Donaldson Charitable Trust, she not only secured funding for the library’s centennial-year programming, but also acquired needed funding for several additional major facility maintenance and improvement projects.

Susan continues to serve on the board of the Pawling Resource Center, where she has utilized her organizational and communication skills for the last ten years in service to this community not-for-profit that supports neighbors in need.  Additionally, her byline is frequently seen in Pawling Living Magazine, where she not only writes informative and human-interest articles about those organizations in which she is most active, but finds the time to craft pieces for other noteworthy organizations in the community as well. 

Finally, to fully round out her work of service to community organizations, Susan has since 2012 been an active member of the Pawling Shakespeare Club, where she served on its board early in her tenure, and where she continues to enjoy reading aloud the words of the Bard, permitting her to dust off her theatrical training acquired at Catholic University, where she earned an MFA in acting many years ago.

When asked if she had any thoughts about the sixteen years spent here in Pawling, Susan unreservedly proclaimed, “In our 47 years together, Jeremy and I have called several places home.  Not one compares to Pawling.  Pawlingites are the most caring, generous, and supportive people we have ever known.  I’m immeasurably grateful to have been given the opportunity to contribute to and serve this extraordinary community!” Additional information about the 13^th Annual Pawling Rotary Golf Outing may be found on the Rotary website at pawlingrotary.org, or by contacting event co-chair John Ammaturo at 845- 656-4707.