Bobby Gordon of Potsdam was honored with the Service Above Self Award by the Rotary Club of Potsdam at their annual meeting on June 8. Gordon was given the award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the Potsdam community.
Gordon graduated from Cornell University in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and earned a master’s degree in education in 1967. She and her family moved to the Potsdam area in 1975.
She worked for St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES teaching basic literacy skills to adults for about 25 years, which she found to be a very rewarding career.
Upon retiring, Gordon continued to serve in a similar fashion by coordinating an adult literacy program based in the Potsdam Public Library. The program serves adults who need to improve their reading, writing and math skills, as well as area residents who have come here from other countries and are learning English as an additional language to their own. She continues to work part-time as the library’s coordinator of adult literacy.
During the past 45 years, Gordon has volunteered in diverse areas, including serving on the board of the Potsdam Interfaith Community Service Council, leading a 4-H club, and volunteering in the CORC store. Currently, Gordon is a member of the Board of the Society of United Helpers.
Gordon has been a member of Potsdam Rotary for a little over two years and has been active in several projects, including interviewing students for the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy.
She and her husband, Ed, are the parents of four adult children. They also served as foster parents for 17 years for a person with developmental disabilities, starting when he was 6 years old.