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Volunteers earn Countryside honors

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published September 16, 2006

CLEARWATER - Two outstanding community volunteers and activists were honored by the Countryside Rotary Club and Old Harbor Bank at a special reception Wednesday.

Longtime educator and former youth soccer team mom Laura Bentz was named Mrs. Countryside 2006, and former Rotary Club executive and youth mentor Bob Carollo was named Mr. Countryside 2006 during the annual celebration.

Carollo, who was born and raised in Mississippi, is the first Countryside Rotary Club member honored since the award program was initiated 10 years ago.

"I was surprised and somewhat humbled by it," said Carollo, a retired IBM employee who has lived in the Countryside area for 20 years. "It's a nice, unsolicited 'thank you.' "

Carollo and his wife, Suzie, have four children and six grandchildren. He has served as the Rotary Club's secretary, president, board member and co-chairman of its charity golf tournament. He has been a volunteer at the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation for more than 15 years, and helps buy groceries for needy families during the holidays.

He has also served as an assistant coach for boys and girls Little League teams, as a mentor at Leila Davis Elementary School, and is the president of the Eagle Estates Homeowners Association.

Bentz, a native Floridian who was raised in Miami, was a teacher for 32 years and is now a supervisor for family and consumer sciences and health science education for Pinellas County schools. She and her husband, Bob, have lived in the Countryside area since 1981. The couple have two children - Brian, 24 and Marc, 21.

She was selected as one of the top 10 teachers in Pinellas County in 1989, was a semifinalist for the Pinellas County Schools Ambassador of the Profession award in 2004, and was listed in Who's Who in America in 2005.

She is active at Heritage Methodist Church and Northwood Presbyterian Church, and she has been an active committee member for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. She also has donated her time to youth soccer and baseball.

"What a nice thing, to be honored for something you do for fun," Bentz said.

Why does she do it?

"It's the right thing to do," Bentz said.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or 727 445-4153.

[Last modified September 16, 2006, 06:31:28]