Dick Dennison: A Tribute To A Quarter-century Of Service

When Dick Dennison and his wife, Diane, moved into their Golf Avenue home in 1964, they had no idea how much of their lives would be involved with "Village business."

For 25 years, Dick has served the Village as both a Trustee and active board member of the zoning board. He has worked under three mayoral administrations-Dave Shepherd, Jack Holzworth, and Bob Corby-giving many hours a week to civic affairs.

"Dick embodies all the best attributes of Village volunteers-intelligence, honest concern, and dedication," says Mayor Corby. "Serving with him has been an honor."

Talking to Dick about his civic accomplishments is not always easy; he's as modest as he is hard-working. But this former history teacher (35 years at Penfield High School) admits that he's most proud of his strong stand on zoning issues-in particular, removing the possibility that residences might be converted to office use. "I worked hard to keep Pittsford's residential neighborhoods intact. If we hadn't tightened up the zoning codes, Washington Road and Pittsford-Palmyra Road in the Village, for example, might now be commercial districts, as they are in many other Monroe County towns and villages."

At the same time he's been protecting Pittsford Village's residential flavor, Dick has worked to strengthen ties with local merchants and has helped devise ways to attract visitors to the Village. He pushed to have an attractive full-color brochure printed that promotes Pittsford as a tourist/shopping destination. That brochure is now used by the Monroe County Visitors Center and is available at local hotels and other venues.

It should be no surprise that communication issues are important to this educator. This newsletter, in its expanded form, was Dick's brainchild. It was he who proposed the idea to the Trustees two years ago, and he who helped plan its early contents and who saw it through its first printing and mailings.
Dick's extracurricular hours have been filled with other civic business, as well. He has served on the boards of Planned Parenthood, Pittsford Greenbelt, and the New York Forest Owners Association; and has worked with the Finger Lakes Land Trust and (of course!) Historic Pittsford. He was a founder and first president of the Penfield Credit Union and is an active member of Asbury Methodist Church.
In recent years, Dick's interest in environmental issues has broadened. That interest, he says, corresponds nicely with his passion for fly-fishing, an activity that has led to interesting adventures in Yellowstone Park and Maine. .

With his retirement as a Trustee, Dick will have more time to spend with Diane, his three children, and grandchildren, and to enjoy a newly-acquired vacation home in Maine. We suspect, however, that his interest in the health of the Village will remain as strong as ever.