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WHEREAS, John Roell has been an exemplary volunteer residing in the Sheraden neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh. He has been a member of Kiwanis club of Sheraden since 1995 and received the Legion of Honor for his service in Kiwanis in 2020; and,
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WHEREAS, Mr. Roell is a retired Language Arts Teacher from the Pittsburgh Public School District where he taught at Allegheny Middle School, Columbus Middle School and Greenway Middle School and is an advocate of promoting childhood literacy; and,
WHEREAS, there was no end to his volunteerism and community pride; he has read to children at the former Train-Up-A-Child Daycare Center and at the Kiwanis Biggest Bedtime Story event each March; he has collected aluminum pop and beer can tabs for the Ronald McDonald Houses in Pittsburgh; and,
WHEREAS, Mr. Roell takes daily walks through the Sheraden community collecting litter he sees along his way, choosing different paths each time; he has served as master of ceremonies at the Sheraden Community’s Halloween Event and has assisted in the Santa shop at downtown department stores and at the Sheraden Shines, event leading the crowd in holiday caroling. He has even assisted University of Pittsburgh medical students by portraying patients with different ailments for training; and,
WHEREAS, John Roell has served our country in the U.S. Navy and has honored veterans for over 10 years by planting flowers, grown in his own yard, around the monument in Sheraden. He then carries gallon bottles of water to the monument to keep the flowers watered; and,
WHEREAS, Mr. Roell has a passion for musical theater and has even dabbled in some local productions. He is an avid bird watcher, many of which are visible in his back yard which borders Sheraden Park, and loves to share his knowledge with whoever will listen. He even makes his own jellies from berries grown his yard; and,
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby commend Mr. John Roell for his selfless commitment to the neighborhood of Sheraden and his exemplary community service; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare Sunday, November 7, 2021 to be “Mr. John Roell Day” in the City of Pittsburgh.