Merrimack Valley

Scouts honor three in Merrimack Valley for distinguished citizenship

By Tim McCarthy
Staff Writer
Published: April 22, 2009

ANDOVER — Three Merrimack Valley residents with a long-standing history of outreach and service will receive the Boy Scouts' Yankee Clipper Council's most prestigious award on May 7.

State Sen. Steven Baddour, Andover High School Principal Peter Anderson and Lawrence community leader Sheila Balboni will be honored as 2009 Distinguished Citizens in Greater Lawrence during a dinner at the Wyndham Andover hotel.

The award, given annually, honors people who demonstrated integrity and concern for others in their professional and personal lives.

This year's award honors:

Baddour, of Methuen, who was elected to the state Senate in 2002. He has spent much of his career advocating for taxpayers through transportation reform and preservation of local bridges. His efforts have saved billions of dollars in state costs and have generated new jobs.

As chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, he routinely convened hearings to ensure that the taxpayers are protected during the remainder of the Big Dig construction. His questioning has made the project more accountable to the public and cost recovery efforts are back on track.

He also has led the effort to pass legislation to accelerate the repair and replacement of the state's most structurally deficient bridges.

His passionate advocacy stems from long-standing personal ties to the community.

Anderson, raised in Danvers, assimilated fully into the culture of the Merrimack Valley through his continuing work in Andover's public schools.

He is the principal of Andover High School and has served as a junior high math and English teacher, department chairman and high-school program adviser. Through his efforts, 99 percent of the class of 2009 is planning to advance to higher education. Outside of Andover, Anderson has served as a principal for schools in North Carolina and Illinois.

He and his wife, Patty, have been married almost 35 years and have three children.

Balboni is the founder of the Community Day Charter Public School and serves as executive director of the Community Group in Lawrence. She has worked tirelessly since the start of her career in the 1970s to advance the lives of Lawrence women and children.

Setting her child care centers apart from mere day care, Balboni's ingenuity created programs that wove childhood development programs with adult career training. Today, more than 700 children grow and learn in the 60 Community Group centers and programs throughout Lawrence.

She is a board member of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Forest Foundation.

She is a founding member, and past president, of both the Massachusetts Association of Day Care Agencies and the Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Association.

2009 Distinguished Citizen Awards

When: Thursday, May 7; reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7.

Where: Wyndham Andover hotel, 123 Old River Road, Andover

Tickets: $125 each and available by calling the Yankee Clipper Council at 978-372-0591.