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10-25-2007 By ERIC AHLQVIST Editor But he is anyway. Snyder, a 1977 Cooperstown High School graduate, has been the president of the Sports Booster Club for the past 20 years, and has been involved in a myriad of youth sports related activities in Cooperstown for the past 25 years. For those and other reasons, he was selected as the 2007 recipient of the annual Patrick C. Fetterman Award given by the Clark Sports Center and Clark Foundation. The award goes to a member of the community is dedicated to serving local youth, especially in the area of athletics. The recipient embodies the meaning of outstanding sportsmanship, inspired leadership and caring service. Snyder said those values were instilled in him during his high school days by watching then Booster Club members like Ray Burr, Al Beard and Herb Bower. "They were always around helping in any way they could, and I wanted to do that when I got older as well," said Snyder, who played football, basketball and baseball at Cooperstown. After high school Snyder, who was awarded the John Terry McGovern Sportsmanship Award during his senior year at CCS, received a teaching degree from SUNY Brockport in 1981, and after spending two years in California returned to Cooperstown "looking for work." Cooperstown's athletic director at the time, Ted Kantorowski, gave him jobs coaching the junior high wrestling and track teams, and the following fall he began working at New York Central Mutual in Edmeston, where today he is the vice-president of marketing. "I never did teach, and being involved with coaching and other activities over the years has been my way of staying involved with the youth of the community and giving back," Snyder said. In 1987 he was elected president of the Sports Booster Club, and curiously, he said, there hasn't been an election held since. Snyder's oldest son, Reid, is a senior at Hamilton College, while middle son Quinn is a senior at Cooperstown. His youngest son, Pierce, is a second grader at Cooperstown Elementary School. "I've still got another 10 years left," Snyder said. Snyder has also been very active in both Cooperstown Youth Baseball and the Cooperstown Soccer Club over the years. He coached in both, and was the vice president and treasurer of the CYB Board of Directors for 10 years and is currently the Rookie League Commissioner of the Cooperstown Soccer Club. "Bob really embodies what the Fetterman Award is all about," said Sports Center acting director Val Paige, a member of the gym's Fetterman Award selection committee. "He's given so much to the youth of this community through his years and years of involvement. He's an excellent choice for this award." Past winners include: Lavern "Beanie" Ainslie; 1994: Jack Vineyard; 1995: Ted Kantorowski; 1996: Malcolm Brooks; 1997-98: Jerry Townsend; 1998-99: Don Howard; 2000: Dick White; 2001: Pat and Ed Hazzard; 2002: Stephen "Sharky" Nagelschmidt; 2003: Frank Miosek; 2004: Ted Spencer; 2005: Terry Bliss; 2006: Dave Adsit. |
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