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New head of department of recreation named

BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO Demonstrating equipment at the FIT Center are Garth Griffin (front) and Fred Peulle. Mr. Griffin is retiring after 36 years on the job.
BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO Demonstrating equipment at the FIT Center are Garth Griffin (front) and Fred Peulle.  Mr. Griffin is retiring after 36 years on the job.

Shelter Island is welcoming a new face to town government. Bethany Ortmann will be succeeding Garth Griffin as the town’s recreation director, a position Mr. Griffin served in for 36 years.

“The Town Board joins me in welcoming Bethany to this exciting and critically important position,” Supervisor Jim Dougherty said in a news release. “We look forward to working with Bethany to continue our current recreation program and to actively explore with her new initiatives in this critically important Island activity,”

Ms. Ortmann has substantial experience working in recreation and athletics, both with youth and senior citizens. She served as camp nurse and then head counselor at the Art Farm Day Camp in Bridgehampton and served as recreation leader for senior services in Victor, New York.

Her current athletic activities include volleyball coaching and working as a summer camp director at Sag Harbor High School.

Ms. Ortmann has a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies and a Master of Arts in Communication, both of which she received from the State University of New York at Brockport.

“This is where my passion is,” Ms. Ortmann told the Reporter. “I really want to help grow the community in any way I can,”

Asked about a favorite part of her job, she replied, “Building communication with the community and finding out what people are looking for.”

Ms. Ortmann will be sitting down with Mr. Griffin soon to discuss future plans of the department.

“We salute Garth Griffin for his many years of devoted service to the Island, thank him and wish him well as he moves on,” Mr. Dougherty said. “We will miss Garth and are pleased he will remain a familiar face on the Island.”