MONTICELLO — Thursday, November 19, turned out to be one of those dark, rainy days that are great to spend curled up at home on the couch with a good movie. Yet that didn't stop family, friends, and locals from gathering together in the Sullivan County Legislative Chambers in Monticello to celebrate the special day for someone from the community they know and admire, Gary Siegel.

Siegel, who hails from Liberty, was selected to be the recipient of the 2015 SYDA Foundation Community Service Award, which includes a certificate of merit for outstanding service to the local community and a gift of $5,000.

The SYDA Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1973 and based in South Fallsburg since 1979. It was founded to protect and preserve the Siddha Yoga philosophy and culture, helping to teach students and communities from all around the world about the Siddha Yoga meditation and practice.

Some examples of their work include the PRASAD project, which helps to provide health, education, and sustainable development programs to families and communities in need, and the Prison Project, that teaches incarcerated individuals in several countries the practice of Siddha Yoga meditation.

The SYDA Foundation has been sponsoring the annual Community Service Award since 1986, recognizing and honoring local citizens for their “outstanding and ongoing service to the community.” Those that are chosen, are selected by past award recipients and local civic leaders.

Gary Siegel was selected to receive this prestigious award in recognition for not just his impact on the lives of people, young and old in Sullivan County, but also for his impact on the lives of people and families, nationally and globally, through his many charities and projects.

Siegel was a music educator for more than 30 years, and during that time he also served as chair of Sullivan County Music Educators Association and New York State School Music Association Music Festivals, enriching the lives of young people through music. He wished to instill “the importance of keeping music and art programs in our schools.” He was a founding member of Liberty ALIVE, a local community development program. Current projects include the WSUL/WVOS radio Heart-a-thon, which raises thousands of dollars each year to benefit the Catskill Regional Medical Center, and serving on a fundraising committee for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In 2013, Siegel created the Barry Foster Memorial Fund to provide financial support to allow children to attend field trips and participate in team sports.

When Gary retired as a teacher in 2013 he started a tour company called CD Trips LLC that organizes bus tours out of Sullivan County. A portion of the proceeds from his company go to some of the charities that he is involved with and just last year, the company donated over $23,000. Siegel is also co-chair of the Liberty Rotary Club Haiti Clean Water Project, which has helped provide “100 filtration systems to 100 families” in Haiti.

In accepting the award, Siegel beamed with gratitude, saying that “No one person can accomplish all of these things without the support of others.” He thanked his wife Judy, his mother-in-law Evelyn, and his children Max and Georgia, who were all in attendance, for their never-ending support. A memorable moment in his speech occurred when he a story he said moved and inspired him. It was a story of a hummingbird trying to put out a large fire in the forest, while all the other animals, most much larger than he, stood watching, telling him it couldn't be done. The story ends with the hummingbird saying, “I am doing what I can.” Siegel reminded those assembled that “If we were all hummingbirds doing what we can, and if we know just four or five other hummingbirds doing what they can ... we could do a lot, just doing what we can.”

In addition to the SYDA Foundation Award, Siegel also received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, the Sullivan County Legislature Certificate of Special Recognition, and a Proclamation from NY State Assemblyman John Bonacic “honoring Gary Siegel upon receiving the 2015 SYDA Foundation Community Service Award.”