Former CBS anchorman and Oneida High School class of 1960 graduate Rolland Smith, left, poses with Gorman Foundation chairperson Joanne Larson May 29 at the Gorman Foundation Community Center in Oneida. Smith was the keynote speaker at an open house that evening celebrating the opening of the facility and thanking all of the people who made the recently opened Community Center a reality.
(Oneida, NY – June 2014) The Gorman Foundation welcomed some special people to their new Community Center May 29 as they celebrated the recent opening of the facility with a gala open house.
“Tonight is a night of celebration, not just for the building but for all of the people who helped make this happen,” Gorman Foundation president Amanda Larson told the audience.
Amanda Larson and fellow Gorman Foundation officers, including her mother and chairperson Joanne Larson, vice-president Jim Sullivan and office manager Peg Buzzard, gave out bottles of champagne to many of the people who have made the Community Center possible as Amanda Larson called them up one by one for a round of appreciative applause.
Multi-Emmy Award-winning CBS newsman Rolland Smith, a graduate of the Oneida High School class of 1960 and a longtime friend of Joanne Larson, was the keynote speaker at the event. He told of his interviews with American presidents, including Eisenhower and Nixon, as well as seeing the second plane hit the World Trade Center and covering Pope John Paul I’s funeral.
Smith said in all of his years traveling the world, he has never seen anything quite like the Gorman Foundation Community Center in Oneida.
“When someone walks into the Gorman Foundation’s building, they are not only treated with respect and courtesy, but also with a touch of elegance,” Smith said. “There are very few places in the world that can equal what they have here.”
The 11,900-square-foot Community Center opened this past winter, and the Mary Rose Clinic was the first agency to the move in. They were soon followed by staff from the Community Action Partnership of Madison County, and later the BOCES-Oneida ACCESS site, Madison County Reads Ahead and the Madison County Literacy Coalition.
CAP executive director Julie Dale said the Community Center has already had great impact on the people of the Madison County area.
“I think it’s been wonderful for the people we serve,” she said. “It’s really unique and beautiful.”
“This is going to be a true treasure for the people of our community,” said Oneida Healthcare Community Relations Director Mike Healy. “We’ve been pleased to have been a small help to them in getting this going.”
Amanda Larson said the Community Center is open to area agencies that need a larger location for meetings and workshops. Non-profit agencies interested in holding their own meetings there can call 315.363.0170 for more information.
The Gorman Foundation Community Center is located at 1081 Northside Shopping Plaza in Oneida.