Sheridan’s Schatz Named Community Action Team Volunteer Of The Year

AARP Wyoming

CHEYENNE - One of AARP Wyoming’s most veteran and active volunteers took home some hardware Wednesday night as Sheridan’s Wayne Schatz was given the Community Action Team Volunteer Award during AARP Wyoming’s Volunteer Recognition Dinner in Casper.

Schatz was nominated for the award by Sheridan Action Team Leader Clarence Montano.

“Wayne was my mentor when I started with AARP, he was a mentor when I started working with the Community Action Team, and my mentor when I started with the Executive Council,” Montano says. “When we converted from an AARP chapter to an AARP Community Action Team, he was right there with me. He has always been there to help us deal with any new challenges that have come up.”

Montano says Schatz continues to be active in the Sheridan Action Team by coordinating the Movies for Grownups program, as well as Sheridan's Community Action Team efforts around emergency preparedness.

Schatz is no stranger to volunteering for AARP, or various other groups in Sheridan County. The long-time Sheridan-area educator spent six years on the AARP Wyoming Executive Council and is a key member of the Sheridan Community Action Team. Last year he was nominated for the Andrus Award honoring the state’s top volunteer age 50 and over.

According to Montano, Schatz has coordinated numerous AARP activities in the last few years, including the group’s Movies for Grownups series, which seeks to root out social isolation; the Souper Bowl food drive in Sheridan County; and local Shred events, which are designed to fight fraud by shredding old paper that may contain personal information. Schatz also supported the Sheridan Veterans Golf Tournament; the group’s Third Thursday events; the Annual Christmas Stroll in Sheridan, an Emergency Preparedness Workshop, and much more.

When not volunteering through AARP, Schatz gives his time as a Board Member of the Sheridan County School District 2, where he has served the last 10 years. A former educator in the school district, Schatz has served as Executive Director of the Wyoming Retired Educators Association, and has had some role in the group for the last 35 years. Wayne has acted as a Boy Scoutmaster and leader for 20 years, a commissioner in the Greater Wyoming Council of Boy Scouts, and is a Northeast Wyoming Youth Church leader. Schatz also visits residents at the Sheridan County Hospice. Finally, Schatz volunteers in a number of capacities at the Wyo Theater.