Middletown man earns top award for being active community member
Nov. 4—MIDDLETOWN — Mike Scorti listened to his Fenwick High School principal and his late wife, and the Middletown community is still reaping the benefits.
Scorti, 82, a longtime volunteer, received the Roland P. Ely Jr. President's Award Thursday night during the 37h annual Middletown Community Foundation meeting at the Windamere Event Center.
While the award is kept a secret, no one seemed surprised that Scorti was this year's recipient. Several minutes after the meeting ended, numerous people stopped and congratulated him.
"When Mike speaks people listen," said Dustin Hurley, board president who met Scorti years ago when Hurley attended his first Airport Commission meeting.
During his lengthy career at Miami Carey, Scorti served as marketing and sales manager and handled three major accounts: Lowe's, Home Depot and Menards. That was a "24/7 job," he said.
"It was time for me to retire," said Scorti, who retired in 2006. "I was tired."
That's when his wife Betty Sue told him: "You better do something."
Ever since, Scorti has immersed himself into the Middletown community, serving on numerous boards, committees and service organizations, including TV Middletown, Middletown Arts Festival, Middletown Community Foundation and Rotary Club.
"You can't go from working 24/7 to zero," he said with a smile.
When Middletown City Manager Paul Lolli formed a group of business leaders to discuss the best way for the city to operate Central Connections, he recruited Scorti, who has attended both meetings.
Scorti said it was important to use his 44 years of work experience to improve the community. A person can only play so much golf, sit in a tree stand so long.
"This gave me an opportunity to take that experience I learned and put it into the foundation," he said. "When there's a new problem, that's exciting to me."
There was a time when Scorti was the problem.
When he attended Fenwick High School, where he graduated in 1959, Scorti said Principal Lawrence Krusling talked to him about his poor behavior and constant fighting. Scorti said he hung with an older crowd early in high school.
Krusling told him to get different friends.
"He changed my life," Scorti said. "He told my new friends, 'You take care of this guy.' That's mentoring. He set the tone for my life."
Scorti was inducted into Fenwick's Hall of Achievement in 2013.
After receiving his award on stage, Scorti thought back to the words of wisdom once delivered by his principal.
"These are the people I hang around with now," he said, looking into the audience.
The MCF announced two other major awards.
Melissa "Mel" Worbis won the Mary Maurer Volunteer of the Year Award and Jacky Banks received the Mary Jane Palmer Nunlist "I Love Middletown" Award.
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PAST ROLAND P. ELY JR. PRESIDENT'S AWARD RECIPIENTS
2009: Bill Schaefer
2010: Norn Hayes
2011: John Peterson
2012: Sarah Kaup
2013: Tom Wiley
2014: John Sawyer
2015: Patti Gage
2016: Ray Keifhaber
2017: Tom Wortley
2018: Mary Maurer
2019: Ken Cohen
2020: Ginger Bruggeman
2021: Carole Schul
2022: Richard Isroff
SOURCE: Middletown Community Foundation
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