Amanda Purcell is reporting in The Daily Mail Dick Brooks of New Baltimore has been named the Greene County 2017 Senior Citizen of the Year, and Athens resident Ed Bloomer has been chosen to receive the Outstanding Contribution by a Senior Citizen award. Brooks and Bloomer were chosen by the Advisory Council to the Greene County Department for the Aging. Both men will be honored at a special ceremony in May. Award recipients are recognized for their years of service and selfless contributions to Greene County. A Maine native, Brooks has lived in Greene County for 50 years. “Where can you find a better place?” he said about choosing to put down roots in Greene County. “In all the traveling I’ve done, I have never run into anything that has more to offer than what we have here.” Brooks served as a county legislator from 1995 to 2002, and a town councilman for New Baltimore. He served on the board of the Greene County Council of the Arts, as president of the board for Greene County Cornell Cooperative Extension, chairman of the board of trustees at Columbia-Greene Community College and deacon at the New Baltimore Reformed Church. Until last October, Brooks served as manager of the Historic Catskill Point. Bloomer contributions including delivering meals and providing medical transportation for seniors. He has also served as a volunteer tutor and on the board of directors for Literacy Volunteers of America. Bloomer was part of an effort to preserve the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, served on the Athens Zoning Board and assisted with the Athens Cultural Center’s activities. He is also a member of the Greene County Planning Board, is a volunteer for the Y-Tri athletic event sponsored by the Greene County branch of the YMCA and serves as a trustee for the Colleburgh Cemetery Association. “It absolutely is a good idea to volunteer,” Bloomer said as a message to his fellow seniors. “Giving back is the best medicine. ..." Read the full story in The Daily Mail.