Mote Marine Laboratory honored 356 volunteers — including some who have served for 35 years — during its annual volunteer awards ceremony on April 19, 2018.
During the ceremony, which filled Mote’s WAVE Center auditorium on City Island, Sarasota, near capacity, Mote President & CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby praised the volunteers for bringing Mote’s mission to life.
“People I meet cannot believe we have so many volunteers, so actively engaged in Mote’s mission of world class marine research, education and public outreach,” Crosby said. “You’ve heard me say that Mote was founded on passion, partnership and philanthropy. You, our volunteers, embody all three.”
Mote has 1,771 volunteer positions filled, including volunteer interns, which relate to every aspect of its mission: marine research, education, outreach on the floor of Mote Aquarium, and more. Many volunteers are also Mote Trustees, philanthropic donors, Advisory Council members or other exceptional ocean supporters.
Crosby continued: “You are among the key reasons for our excellent record of accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums every five years since 2003. Last month we earned accreditation for another five years — that’s a really big deal and it highlights the great work we’ve done together. The accreditation committees who visit Mote each time rave about our volunteers.”
Volunteers will have even more critical roles to play as Mote plans the rebirth of its Aquarium on mainland Sarasota County, with the goal of opening this significantly expanded hub of informal science education in late 2021 (February 2018 announcement). This planned rebirth will free much-needed space at Mote’s City Island research campus, allowing the Lab’s diverse, internationally recognized scientific programs to advance and ultimately evolve the campus into an International Marine Science, Technology & Innovation Park.
“The grand challenges facing our oceans demand that we significantly grow our research and education enterprises,” Crosby said. “Our new Mote Science Education Aquarium will be an incredible asset that will reach far more individuals. We will need each and every one of our volunteers engaged, whether at the new Aquarium or here at our evolving scientific campus, where education programs and tours will continue and research efforts will grow. Mote would not be Mote without all of you.”
Volunteer Coordinator Claire Grove announced awards for volunteers who have served for 35 years, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, five, three and one. Volunteers who had served more than 4,000 hours — a lifetime achievement recognized nationally by the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Awards — received special, signed certificates from Mote’s President & CEO.
This year’s 35-year volunteers are two Mote Trustees whose contributions helped shaped Mote into the beacon of marine science, education and community engagement it is today.
- 35-year volunteer Judy Graham is a Mote Trustee, leader of the Board of Trustees Governance Committee, member of New Aquarium Oversight Committee, and Board Chairman Emeritus.“I call this place Mote College, because you learn something every time you are here,” Graham said. “It is a fabulous institution and I’ve enjoyed every moment that I have had the honor of spending here.”Graham reflected on her history with Mote: “In the early 80s good friend Dan Miller took me on the backroom tour of the Lab, and I was hooked! I was first asked to help out with Mote’s early fundraiser, ‘An Evening of Island Elegance,’ held in the unpaved Mote parking lot under a tent. It was anything but elegant most of the time,” said Graham, who spearheaded the low-key event’s evolution into the stylish, black-tie fundraising gala Oceanic Evening, a community favorite today. “Through the years Mote volunteered me for many things from helping bring the JASON Project (a major science education program) to the campus to cleaning bathrooms for various functions. I ended up on the Board of Trustees and worked my way up to Chairman of the Board, but still have the privilege of cleaning a bathroom every so often!” said Graham, whose humor, generosity and elegance are treasured at the Lab.
- Fred Derr has volunteered for 35 years as a Mote Trustee, and he is a current member of the Board Executive Committee and New Aquarium Oversight Committee, and is Board Chairman Emeritus.Derr was recruited for the Mote Board in 1982 by then Sen. Bob Johnson, who at the time was Chairman of the Board. He was promptly appointed to the Executive Committee, serving with Johnson and with William R. Mote — the Lab’s major benefactor and namesake. He was elected Board Chairman in 1999 and served in that position until 2002.“During my time at Mote I was involved in locating property for Mote Aquaculture Research Park, which was eventually purchased from the Hi Hat Ranch. Also during my tenure as Chairman I was responsible for the purchase of the Summerland Key property which we bought from Charles River Laboratories,” Derr said, referring to the campus that today hosts Mote’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration.Aside from his exceptional work at Mote, Derr is a Highway Contractor working in transportation infrastructure. He built, for example, University Parkway from 301 to I-75 in 1992. He also built Beneva Road over the years from one end of Sarasota County to the other, and built subdivisions. He has also contributed to multiple community organizations focused on business, building and transportation, arts, culture and the military.
- This year’s 30-year honoree, Roberta Benninghoff, began volunteering in 1987, after her husband, Carl, began. She is approaching 6,000 hours of service!“I met so many really fine people during my tenure, some of whom are among my best friends,” Benninghoff said. “We took great pleasure in bringing our grandchildren to Mote; they thought they needed to visit each time they came to Sarasota.”During the ceremony, Roberta Benninghoff was joined by her daughter, who also attended last year’s ceremony honoring Carl posthumously for his 30 years of service.“Together, Carl and I have given Mote 60 volunteer years. In this past year of grief since Carl’s death, my Mote family has been a great support team for me with their caring kindness,” said Benninghoff, who also generously volunteers her time with her church, neurochallenge Parkinson’s patients, Key Chorale, La Musica and her homeowners’ association board of directors.
The awards ceremony announced several new inductees to Mote’s Volunteer Emeritus Program, which allows volunteers with a minimum of 10 years or 1,000 hours of service to be nominated by Mote’s Volunteer Board and approved by Mote’s President & CEO to receive special honors upon their retirement. Emeritus volunteers retain many benefits of their service at Mote — including visiting Mote Aquarium for free and attending certain special events.
The ceremony honored the following Mote Trustees and Honorary Trustees reaching volunteer service milestones. In addition to Derr and Graham achieving 35 years, awardees included: Honorary Trustee Beth Waskom (25 years); Honorary Trustee the Honorable Andy Ireland (20 years); Trustee Richard Donegan (15 years); Trustee Nigel Mould (10 years); Trustee Jeanie Stevenson (five years); Trustees Scott Collins, Mo Cunniffe and John Dart (three years); and Trustees Charles Smith and Sandi Stuart (one year).
To learn more about volunteering at Mote, visit: mote.org/volunteer
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Volunteer Honorees
(Not including Trustees stated above)
Presidential Lifetime Award
Connie Beaupre
Don Dietterick
Joanne Dietterick
Suzanne Goodman
Mike Herron
Melvin Kestner
Betty Linke
Jim Linke
Mary Pexa
Volunteer Emeritus
Jack Baumring
Dave Bracy
Eileen Cohen
Dee Flanagan
Peggy Gause
Carol Kinder
Bill LaFollette
Mary LaFollette
Stan Liner
Tom Maxfield
Norma Jean McKeever
Evelyn Mitchell
Sean Rea
Fran Schlusemann
30 years
Roberta Benninghoff
25 years
Barbara Bock
Patty Sturtevant
Barbara Wear
20 years
Sherry Emigh
Don Fleming
John Ginaven
Gene Stover
15 years
Judy Allen
Bernita Barker
Diana Britton
Sharon Dickman
Stephen Dickman
Angie Gallicchio
Sal Gallicchio
Christine Garber
Judie Lutsky
Betty Morse
Marvin Morse
Mike Pizzi
Terri Pizzi
Peter Rosasco
Kerri Scolardi
Cyndi Seamon
Maureen Snyder
Sue Stolberg
Tony Tabeek
10 years
Cindy Barnes
Bette Boysen
Mary Brugger
Bruce Camardo
Paula Clark
Howard Cowan
Kate Cowan
Jim Davies
David Dickson
David Farrish
David Fontaine
Kay Furey
David Gill
Jim Grimes
Phyllis Hamblen
Yvonne Hebda
Kim Heuberger
Jeffrey Hollway
Cathy Horn
Jack Jenney
Carl Jones
Patricia Jones
Carole Kuklewski
Terry Leland
Stan Liner
Dennis Lutsky
Gary Marcus
Neal Marcus
Dick Miller
Dianne Millett
Roger Mitchell
Nigel Mould
Sean Rea
Ken Rear
Pat Rolf
Ann Walborn
Five years
Dennis Buemi
Martha Caesar
Wayne Curtis
Joan Curto
Joseph Davis
Harvey Greller
Gail Hall
Vikki Iovino
Richard King
Arlene Krum
Donna Krusenoski
Lauren Marmaro
Jill Marsh
Mary Ann McCandless
Rick McCandless
Charlie Mericle
Diana Miracle
Cindy Phillips
Dave Putnam
Ernest Robinson
Bill Tiffan
Gail Vitale
Cathy Walsh
Wallis Wernicoff
Three years
Doris Alpern
Barbara Archbold
Sharon Benesh
Judith Berson
Paul Blankman
Julie Block
Patrick Block
Eric Christensen
Amy Collins
Mary Cornell
Tim Cornell
Rich Craig
Brandon Delasalas
Christy Deonanan
Charlene Donnelly
Karen Douma
Betty Duffy
Bob Fields
Lauren France
Sandy Freeman
Leroy Hasselbring
Mary Hasselbring
John Henningson
Brenda Jameson
Hilary Jones
Sharon Keating
Margot Keller
Clifford Kress
Rossana Lachman
William Lachman
David Lagner
Kumar Mahadevan
Barbara Ann Manning
Larry Mayer
Jillian McGonigle
Adilyne McKinlay
Beth McNally
Katherine Metheny
Jack Mozenter
Carol Nelson
James Nelson
Susan Pheney
Adam Pierce
Janet Pierson
Stasia Pietraszun
Christina Pitchford
Martin Pollack
Bambi Porter
Wendy Reuter
Linda Ritt
Althea Roberts
Jack Rozance
Nancy Rozance
Teresa Schab
Hilory Seaton
Kyra Senchyshak
Pete Senchyshak
Debbie Shoss
Betsy Sillars
Douglas Smith
Joseph Stewart
Christie Swanson
Jennifer Thrall
Julie Vogan
Rick Wagner
Alan Wallack
Sharon Weber
Bob Whyte
Matthew Willard
William Klick
Morgan Windsor
Susan Woodward
Sandra Young
One year
Linda Alampi
Christopher Alexander
Edward Allen
Bill Ambrose
Larry Anglada
Bruce Appleton
Pam Baker
Steven Baker
Roy Baldwin
William Beckmeyer
Bob Bell
Angelo Bettera
Lauren Bogart
Jaclyn Britton
John Buckingham
Deborah Burdick
Tamra Cajo
Vedad Cajo
Susan Cargill
Shannon Carney
Cornelius Carr
Elizabeth Carr
Marjorie Carr
Pat Carr
Mary Jane Charmoy
Matthew Clendening
Miranda Clendening
Casey Connolly
Steve Curtis
Natalie Davis
Andy Deitsch
Jennifer Domschine
Dawn Drost
Amanda Duff
Robert Duff, Jr
Stanley Duncan
Dora Dyami
Kathleen Earnest
Katie Erenati
Bruce Fiedler
Kaila Fitzgerald
Jenna Flickinger
Brittany Foster
Stevie Freeman-Montes
Ashley Garcia
Kalie Garretson
Lorraine Gawronski
Alexandra Goldring
Karen Goss
Patrick Grandelli
Rob Greenwood
Carolyn Guiser
Ivy Guisewite
Gabriel Gutierrez
Amber Halstead
Judith Hansberry
Denise Harper
Kathrin Harris
Megan Hart
Cody Heath
William Hendrickson
Soyer Hensley
Lori Hill
Gary Hites
Mark Hoffman
Liza Howard
Ian Hutchinson
Mendy Hyatt-Hensley
Susan Jasin
Renee Jones
James Jurdak
Kimberlee Kandel
Celeste Kaptur
Matilda Keane
David Law
Max Lee
Gretchen Lindelof
Kathrene Lo
Ashley Lysaught
Ashley Mackie-Donnelly
Quinn Malcolm
Christine Mares
Sarah Markovitz
Ashley McDonald
Terence McGovern
Angela McTigue
Dawn Miles
Richard Miles
Alison Miller
Jessica Miller
Mike Miller
Susanne Miller
Paul Mlotok
Troy Montes
Julie Myers
Michael Myers
Karin Neumann
Christine Nottage
Kathryn O’Donoghue
Danielle Oplaski
Nancy Padgett
Katharine Pan
James Parente
Yasmin Parsloe
Brian Patton
Angellina Perez
Cheryl Perrine
Robin Peters
Angela Podlasek
Cynthia Polzer
Alex Pomeroy
Angelina Portoluri
Norma Lee Rhines
Rollin Richman
Alejandra Roldan
Randi Ryterman
Patricia Sacks
Victoria Salisbury
Allison Saltoft
Gina Sangmeister
Kurt Sangmeister
Diane Santoianni
Cynthia Sarkozy
Kathleen Sasvari
Jeffrey Sauter
Scott Schenke
Ceinwen Schreiner
Nina Schrum
Letia Short
Robin Sieger
David Smith
Teresa Smith
Jacob Snyder
Marco Solorzano
Diana Spanos
Nancy Stasiewicz
Clayton Steed
John Stevens
Robert Stouffer
Donna Sullivan
Heinrich Swanepoel
Tim Taccardi
Marie Taylor
Jean-Pierre Thonney
Marjorie Tucker
Lenore Von Hoene
Patricia Waites
Melle Lee Warren
Jamie White
Jake Whitmer
Claudia Wilson
Kimberly Wilson
Larry Wolf
Mary Woods
Gail Wyer
Richard Yow
Asher Zakrajsek