Princeton Area Community Foundation has announced the fifteenth annual Leslie “Bud” Vivian Award for Community Service. The 2011 recipient, Jack Roberts, has served this community for over forty years. The award was presented by the Community Foundation to Mr. Roberts at a surprise Retirement Party hosted by the Princeton Recreation Department May 20th.
The Vivian Award for Community Service, established by members of the Princeton University Class of 1942, recognizes a person who exemplifies the late Bud Vivian’s commitment to serve the whole of the Princeton community. Bud Vivian often saw the need for community action to solve problems, understood how to generate constructive compromise, and had the tenacity to carry solutions through to completion. Previous winners include Marcy Crimmins, Reeves Hicks, Hank Pannell, Jocelyn Helm, Harry Levine, Ted Vial, Harriet Bryan, Pat Van Ness, Claire Jacobus, Anne Reeves, William Johnson, Karl Light, Sarah Hirschman, Shirley Satterfield, and James Floyd.
Jack Roberts served Princeton at the Princeton Recreation Department from 1970 to 2011, and was its Executive Director for the last 21 years. The health and well-being of all the town’s residents was his highest priority. He was a tireless advocate for the participation of girls and women in sports, and he extended the reach of programs to kids, starting the Dillon Basketball League, Platform Tennis Leagues and many pool programs. As the primary steward of the community pool for all but three years of its life, Jack regularly rode his bike to the pool on opening day and retired having set in motion the future of a new pool to continue to serve the community. Recognized state-wide as a terrific director, he was awarded the Michael B. Berman Award for Administrative Excellence by the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association in 1990.
Nominators noted that Jack “…embraced the entire Princeton community, reached out enthusiastically to engage everyone, regardless of athletic prowess or ability to pay, and created a lively community through recreation that has built strong ties and a wonderful town. We are all better off for having known Jack and been the lucky beneficiaries of his warmth and enthusiasm all these years.”
The Leslie “Bud” Vivian Award for Community Serviceis made possible through the Vivian Memorial Fund, an endowment fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation. Learn more about the award and read guidelines for nominations.
