Bowling Green resident, Clif Boutelle, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ohio/West Virginia District Exchange Club at their annual convention on May 21.
Boutelle has been an active member of the Exchange Club of Bowling Green for over 42 years. He has served multiple times on the club’s board of directors and was club president in 1986-87.
He has sponsored nine new members over the years ranging from work contacts to neighbors. Four of these members are currently serving on our club’s board of directors and are essential to the weekly operations of BG Exchange. The newest sponsored member, Michele Wolf, has already joined the fundraising committee.
Boutelle is retired from the public relations office at Bowling Green State University and lastly, from his position as media consultant for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP.) He has always been active in Exchange Club but has truly become a main proponent for the club’s support of education since his retirement.
The Exchange Club of BG’s Scholarship Committee is chaired by Boutelle. For many years, he has worked diligently with the group, as well as with school counselors, to identify Bowling Green area seniors from the high school or vocational school for the scholarships. The qualifications for a scholarship were changed in recent years to reflect components of the ACE Award. Students are requested to write an essay that reflects a challenge in their life.
During the academic year, the Bowling Green club presents monthly awards to a Bowling Green High School senior and a Penta Career Center senior from the school district. Boutelle has handled these presentations for the Student of the Month for 22 years.
As our education awards are contingent on the funds available each year, Boutelle has played an active role in fundraising. He and the rest of the committee are currently looking to add new projects that will generate funds but also adapt to the restrictions of a pandemic society as well as concerns of the membership.
On a side note, Boutelle is known for his chili cooking skills which in non-pandemic years were put to use during Bowling Green’s annual Winter Fest Chili Cook-Off. Exchange Club of Bowling Green has always stood out from the rest of the entrants for creative themes for the event.
Boutelle and his wife, Judy, were in Canton at the convention to receive his award.
