Doctor John Reynolds Memorial Scholarship
We celebrate the 3 deserving students for the inaugural Doctor John Reynolds Memorial Scholarship. I would like to recognize Zoey Aubin, Molly Kennedy Mutz and Yehenely Espinal. I would also like to thank their parents and school representatives for being here today!
First, a little snapshot of the late, great Doctor John Reynolds. Doctor John was born in the suburbs of Northern New Jersey on April 17, 1963. Growing up, his siblings were allergic and the only animal he was allowed to have was his pet rat named Jeremy! When he was in high school John read the book “All Creatures Great and Small” by James Herriot. It was about a country veterinarian in England that treated all types of animals. It was this book that made him want to become a veterinarian. What inspired him most about the book was the relationships he had built with not only the animals he treated but their owners as well. A copy of this book will also be given to each recipient today along with their scholarship. Doctor Reynolds started his education at Colgate University before attending Cornell University where he would receive his Doctor of Veterinary medicine. After graduation he started out working in some clinics in Western New York and also in New Jersey. John’s wife Valeri said that he always wanted to be a veterinarian that played a vital role in his community…so Doctor John set out to find a community that he could call his own and practice veterinary medicine. That drive, brought him to Pittsfield where he would purchase Pittsfield Veterinary Hospital from Doctor Leonard Perry in 1996…who just happened to be a Pittsfield Rotarian.
He started running his practice with just three employees and his wife Valeri. His first week on the job, Doctor Reynolds showed up at Berkshire Humane Society and asked” How can I help?” This was just the beginning of how Doctor Reynolds would help his animal community.
He built a state-of-the-art hospital on the top of his old hospital, he employed over 40 people and he built his practice out of kindness, compassion and community. He helped the shelter start its first ever feline low cost spay neuter program, he was the chair of the animal control commission and he was always the first to volunteer for our clinics and spay days…to just name a few! Everyone in the animal welfare field, fellow veterinarians ACO officers and clients of Pittsfield vet…Doctor Reynolds was our James Herriot! Doctor Reynolds made such an impact in the animal community that the Berkshire Humane Society named their shelter after him.
Doctor Reynolds was also a great Rotarian!
He was introduced to Rotary by Doctor Leonard Perry. John told me that he knew immediately that this was the organization to join… he said, “this club would provide him with the best opportunity to make the biggest impact in his new community…because of the vast support that Rotary provides”. Doctor John served as President, President of the foundation, he was club treasurer, he was awarded the Donald G Butler Award and the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow. Doctor John liked to hand out dictionaries to third graders, work on our annual auction, collect food for the food drive, and enjoyed feeding those in need through the “Feed the Sheep” program. He enjoyed that so much he had his hospital also join the coalition of groups that provided a meal on Monday nights! They continue to provide that meal in his name today.
What Doctor John loved most about our Rotary lunches was the opportunity to sit with a visiting student and learn all about their aspirations…especially if he learned that they might even be an Eagle Scout…which Doctor Reynolds was very proud to be one! What he was most famous for at lunch were his Happy Dollars that he gave weekly at our meetings. He would wave his hand to be called on…and John and Jeff, our fine masters…would ignore him until the end and finally call on “Doctor Reynolds”. His Happy Dollars were mostly about his wife Valeri and his three daughters and their accomplishments and adventures.
Sadly, on Thursday morning December 9th of 2021, Doctor Reynolds passed away from a tragic kayaking accident on Richmond Pond. That day… this community lost a great man who did wonderful things for the community he loved. His Scholarship will help his legacy of ‘helping others” live on! I would like to introduce and thank Adrienne Dibleaux-Speed, who co-chaired this committee with me to award the first two scholarship.
Zoey Aubin
We are happy to present this scholarship to Zoey Aubin, who is joined today by her father Robert and her mother Jennifer, along with Cindy Albert from Taconic High School.
Zoey was an excellent match for this scholarship given her love of animals and desire to become a veterinarian. She has always a had a love of all animals and currently has a Gecko named Geo along with three cats Zina, Peanut and Tabitha – all rescued from a barn (except Geo, who I’m sure wasn’t found wandering in the barn.) Zoey took an online career test in middle school that matched her with being a veterinarian and has made this a focus ever since. She followed through by leaning into science and math in high school. Along with her studies, Zoey has worked as an aid at Craneville Place and Kimball Farms. At Taconic she is a member of the Link Crew, the softball team and is the Volleyball Team manager. She has been a mentor at the little Bellas Bike camp and participated the Berkshire Ride for ALS.
Zoey plans to attend Holyoke Community College in their Veterinary Assistant program and then their Veterinary Technician Program. She then hopes to continue her studies at Umass Amherst and eventually Tufts Veterinary School’s doctorate program. Zoey volunteers as a dog walker at the Berkshire Humane Society each week. Her recommendation letter from the BHS community Outreach coordinator was glowing and described her as dependable, responsible and trustworthy. Her essay detailed her joy in this volunteer work and the ability to help so many animals, especially the long-term residents. This is very dear to my heart, as I first met Dr. John while I was a volunteer dog walker at the Sonsini shelter and he was chairman of the Pittsfield Animal control commission. I served with him on the board of the Berkshire Humane for many years also, I know he would appreciate Zoey’s dedication and ambition. He would have also agreed with her belief that animals connect people, help with both mental and physical health and that this career path will make a difference for humans and animals alike. We are honored today to present this scholarship in his memory to Zoey Aubin.
Molly Kennedy-Mutz
We are happy to present this scholarship to Molly Kennedy-Mutz, who is joined today by mothers Maureen Kennedy and Anne-Marie Mutz, along with Maria Albano from Pittsfield High School. Molly is a wonderful match for the life sciences aspect of this scholarship as she hopes to attain degrees in the speech languages and hearing sciences and then purse a career as a speech pathologist. Molly has already begun this work as she had internships at two Pittsfield elementary schools and a summer program with the Tri-state Psychotherapy Group. Molly’s letter of recommendation from her English teacher spoke to her initiative, genuine empathy for others and intellectual curiosity. She described Molly as a well-rounded student who makes sure that every voice is heard. Molly’s initiative clearly show in that she has already earned almost fifteen college credits through advanced placement and dual enrollment classes. Outside of the classroom she was on the school, council, the PHS leaders in action program, Latin club, Link Leaders program the best buddies and Unified Basketball and track and field and, surely the best club – the Rotary Intact club. She a Caption the Volleyball team after playing all four years. Molly had so many volunteer activities that I can’t list them all but some highlights incuse being a CYC volunteer volleyball coach, Volunteering at the Special Olympics and Thanksgiving Angels. She is familiar to all of us as a Student Rotartion, operating our hot Coca Table at the 10x10 and as an auction volunteer. If Dr. John was still with us, I know he would have given many happy dollars because of her extensive Equestrian experience. Like his Daughters, she has competed for many years and advances to the finals held at Mt. Holyoke College for 5 years in a row. She has many other placements and the ribbons to show for them, I am sure. Dr. John’s family was the most important aspect of his incredibly full life and Molly’s essay clearly showed that her values are the same. Her career path is inspired by her bother who is ninety–nine percent deaf and requires extremely high-tech and expensive hearing aids. Her essay emphasized her concern with her family’s financial needs because of this and her own desire to work with children. I quote “I believe that very child and person deserves their basic right of communication, no matter what that might look like, and I cannot wait to give that to the children I work with in my future career”
I truly believe Dr. John would be proud of our decision to honor his memory by giving this scholarship to Molly Kennedy–Mutz.
Yahenely “Nely” Espinal Liriano
It is with great pleasure that I present to you today Miss Yehenely “Nely” Espinal Liriano. I would also like to introduce her mom Wendy Liriano and guidance counselor Ann Marie Mutz for attending and supporting Nely today. Through the many applications that we received, Nely’s application stood out to Adrienne and I for her dedication and hard work. Jim Reynolds her high school teacher wrote “I met Nely as a sophomore in my 10th grade English class. Personally, Nely faced greater hardships and had to put forth more effort than many of my other students. She knew her limits, and worked diligently to break down the various barriers and burdens in her way. She strived to improve her writing, vocabulary, and analytical skills in her daily writing journal and our Capstone Memoir Project at the end of the year she wrote candidly of the adversity she faced throughout her life and coming here from the Dominican Republic. Through her focused work, she was not only able to keep up with the class, but to attain solid grades throughout the year. Nely’s multi-faceted attributes do not stop there, as she also possesses a compelling kindness and empathy for others. She is an avid animal lover, as she wrote in one of her first essays about her ambition to become a vet someday in order to save the lives of any type of animal. Nely also has a great vision that Doctor Reynolds would embrace. Right now throughout the United States, which includes Berkshire County…we have a shortage of Veterinarians and also we have a huge issue with Access to Care. That said…I would like to read to you Nely’s Essay. Nely also volunteers with Roots Rising and works at BMC in the dietary department. Nely plans on attending William Patterson University this Fall. Congratulations Nely!