42nd Annual Civic trust awards
Community Service Award
Barry R. Fulmer, Jr.
Award Presentation by Debra Young
The 2018 Community Service Award is presented to Barry R. Fulmer, Jr. – but to understand the depth of Barry’s commitment within the Palmer Township community, we need to go back a few years, maybe even more than a few. Back to 1979, when Barry began his involvement in Palmer Athletics as a 9-year-old football player and back to when coaches could put their chewing tobacco on the hands of the players on the line and not let it fall off, to teach them not to jump too early. Back to when Barry’s dad, Barry Sr., helped build the stands at the field at Palmer School; to when his mom, JoAnn started volunteering at the concession stand during the games. Back to when those seeds were planted by his parents, the discipline, the commitment, the involvement and the volunteerism that he carried through for over 25 years.
As an athlete in the Palmer Community leagues, Barry played football, basketball, and baseball. He shared with me that his coaches taught him that being challenged with hard work and being challenged to push themselves to persevere were lessons that not only apply to playing sports and making better athletes but also instilled these lessons to use while growing up. It was not only about winning, but learning teamwork and letting the kids have fun.
Barry is a 1988 graduate of Easton Area High School and 1993 graduate of West Virginia University. It is not surprising to those of us who know him that Barry went to school for teaching. He works so well with kids that it made sense that he became a coach himself, first assisting at the YMCA football camps. Barry began working at Keystone Foods as summer help while he was in school and his boss Bill Corriere encouraged him to get involved in our community athletics. A big supporter of Palmer sports, Bill allowed Barry to leave work early for practices and his coaching began.
Starting with Flag Football in 1993, a team of 16 players continued to grow with Barry as coach. After his third year, there were 40 athletes and they needed to form 2 teams. Barry was a Board member and eventually Secretary of the Athletic Association. He coached Connie Mack Baseball which includes boys from 16 to 18 years old. His coaching expanded into girls basketball in 1995 and then into T-ball and also softball. He was Basketball Commissioner from 2002 to 2007. He was Football Commissioner for 8 years. Barry had many great coaches and many that he coached with, but we can thank Zeke Bellis for being the biggest influence to get Barry to coach in the first place.
In the midst of all that, Barry met his future wife, Lori, who was the cheering coach. They married in December of 1998 and have 2 children – Carli who is now attending WVU and Jake who is at EAMS. Barry continues at Keystone Foods, from summer help to Sales Representative and currently the Director of Purchasing since 2000.
Many in this room have lived this, our involvement in youth sports is so strong, but as our family grows up, our priorities must change. Barry resigned from Palmer Athletics so he and his family can enjoy those football weekends back in WVU. He can watch Jake play from the stands. But even this has not stopped him completely. Barry is currently a member of Varsity E and is the secretary of the Oldtimers, organizing the annual summer picnics that over 200 former athletes from many area schools attend.
Barry said he wanted to give back to his community, and he certainly has. Those lessons of hard work and perseverance have paid off, with a lot of fun to go with them. Palmer BIP thanks Barry and Congratulations on being our Community Service Recipient for 2018.anced settings.