Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-July 20, 2011 Issue

Upper Saddle River July 20, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 3 The Saddle River Valley Lions Club recently presented Robert May with the Life Award for his outstanding service to the club. The Upper Saddle River resident is only the second member in the history of the Saddle River Valley Lions Club, to have received this award. Over the past 15 years, May has served in several positions, including director and secretary. In 1999-2000 and again in 2006-07, he was president of the Lions Club. In 2004, May received the Melvin Jones Fellowship for his charitable work and for volunteering his time to help raise money for sight and other health-related charities. As a Melvin Jones Fellow, May is part of an international network of recipients spanning over 170 countries worldwide. The Melvin Jones Honor recognizes an individual’s commitment to helping others to lead richer, fuller lives, and one who embodies traits generally associated with humanitarian service, such as generosity, compassion, and concern for others. May has a history of involvement in charitable organizations and in their fundraising programs. May and his wife, Bobbie, helped found the Kidney Foundation of Kentucky. They were also active in the American Cancer Society. May earns Life Award for outstanding service to Lions Robert May receives the Life Award from Lions Club Secretary Dave Skrivanek. May’s neighbor, Herb Bodenseik, motivated May to join the Lions Club after his retirement. Over the years, May has particularly enjoyed raising funds for Special Sight projects to which the Lions Club primarily dedicates its efforts. He also enjoys “sweat equity” projects such as the construction of the barrier-free access ramp at the Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, the construction of a ramp for a local stroke victim, and work on the facilities at the New Jersey Camp for blind children at Camp Marcella. May has been a regular volunteer the annual apple and potato sale and at the annual Lions Carnival in Upper Saddle River. He is well known as the top salesman for the annual car giveaway held during the carnival. May was born and raised in Cairo, a southern Illinois town on the Mississippi River. He graduated from Miami University of Ohio where he met and courted Bobbie, whom he married after graduation. He served in the United States Air Force stationed all over the United States and Korea as a Radar Intercept Officer. He was honorably discharged as a captain. May’s business career started with IBM in Cleveland, Ohio, as a typewriter salesman. He moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where he was a planner for the first IBM copier machine, and then moved to Boulder, Colorado, to continue (continued on page 23) ��