Rhea Eckel Clark Citizenship Award, Past Recipients

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Barbara S. Rivette CNY RPDB's 2014 REC Award Recipient

Barbara S. Rivette (left) receives the CNY RPDB's Rhea Eckel Clark Citizenship Award from Board Chairwoman Kathleen A. Rapp at the Board's 2014 Annual Meeting

Barbara S. Rivette was named the recipient of the 28th annual Rhea Eckel Clark Citizenship Award at the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board’s Annual Meeting held on October 17, 2014.

Ms. Rivette is a graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Journalism with a distinguished career as a respected researcher, author, and editor with a passion for environmental and historic topics. Her first historical research was published in a statewide publication when she was 14 years old. Since then Ms. Rivette has authored numerous local history books and 25 sections of the NYS Encyclopedia, which included a segment on Onondaga County

Ms. Rivette worked as reporter, photographer, and executive editor on seven weekly newspapers in Onondaga and Madison Counties and served as the president of the New York Press Association in 1989. She currently serves as the local historian for the Town and Village of Manlius and the Village of Fayetteville. In 2007, she received the local Government Historian Award for Excellence from the Association of Public Historians of NYS.

Ms. Rivette is a life member of the Onondaga Historical Association and was a member of the OHA board of directors for more than 30 years. In 2004 OHA honored her with the OHA Medal for distinguished service in helping to preserve and interpret our local history.

Since 2003 Ms. Rivette has served as the Chair of the Onondaga County Council on Environmental Health. She served as a member of the Onondaga Lake Management Council for 23 years during which time she provided testimony at federal public hearings held by Senator Patrick Moynihan in support of establishing the Onondaga Lake Management Conference. As a participating member of the Conference she contributed to the development of A Plan for Action, later known as the first Onondaga Lake Management Plan." When the Onondaga Lake Management Conference was replaced by the Onondaga Lake Partnership, Barbara assumed a key role on the OLP's Outreach Committee until the Committee completed its work in 2012.

Past Recipients