Bill Ryan wins Brian Ebright Memorial Award for volunteer service to Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts
20 July 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Rick Bryant, Executive Director
Email: rbryant@arts-festival.com
State College, PA – Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts
Director Rick Bryant, Director of Development Diane Bloom, and
Director of Operations Carol Baney presented the fifth annual Brian
Ebright Memorial Award to Trash Crew Coordinator, Bill Ryan. The
award was presented on Saturday, July 16, at 9:00 a.m. during the
Sidewalk Sale Award Ceremony on the Arts Festival’s Allen Street
stage.
The award recognizes cheerful volunteerism above and beyond the call
of duty.
The award is given in memory of the late Brian Ebright, an honor
student in accounting at Penn State and festival volunteer from
Hummelstown, PA. Known for his appetite for work and his zest for
life, Brian was killed in an automobile accident shortly before
Christmas 2006.
“Bill does a remarkable job recruiting crews to fulfill the needs of
trash crew pick-up during Festival week. Always pleasant and as
busy and involved as the trash crew recruits, Bill is an excellent
role model to the many groups of kids who participate on the trash
crew. Simply put, Bill makes trash fun,” said Diane Bloom, the
Festival’s Director of Development.
Ryan’s neighbors volunteer together as the East Highlands Trash
Crew. They are quite possibly the only festival trash crew in
America that wears authentic Scottish Balmoral caps.
In addition to his trash crew duties, Ryan has served on the
Festival’s Board of Directors since 2007. A native of Pittsburgh,
Ryan joined the Penn State Department of Meteorology in 2000, where
he teaches and does research in the field of air quality forecasting
and also provides air quality forecasts for the Philadelphia
metropolitan area. Bill and his wife Joan Richtsmeier, a professor
in anthropology, live in State College’s Highlands neighborhood.
They have three children.