This year’s Liberty Bell award recipient is Mary C. Weidman.

CHENANGO COUNTY — Chenango County’s 2022 Annual Law Day celebration will take place on Monday, May 16 at 1:30 p.m., at the Chenango County Courthouse in downtown Norwich. The event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be provided following the celebration.

Presiding over the annual celebration will be the Hon. Elizabeth A. Garry, the Hon. Joseph A. McBride, and the Hon. Frank B. Revoir, Jr. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Toward a More Perfect Union."

This annual event, sponsored by the Chenango County Bar Association, will include the presentation of the 2022 Mock Trial Winning Team Award and the presentation of the 2022 Liberty Bell award.

This year, the Norwich High School Mock Trial Team won the county-wide competition. Representatives from the Norwich City School District and the ten participating students will be in attendance to accept the award.

Historically, the biggest draw for the annual event is the presentation of the Liberty Bell award. The Chenango County Bar Association presents this award each year to a non-attorney, who through life example has promoted respect for the law and the Constitution.

The Liberty Bell Award was established more than 40 years ago to acknowledge outstanding service performed by a non-lawyer citizen who has given time and energy to strengthen the effectiveness of the American system of freedom under law, in keeping with the spirit of our Constitution. It is awarded to someone who has promoted better understanding of the rule of law, encouraged greater respect for law and the courts, stimulated a sense of civic responsibility, or contributed to good government in the community.

This year’s Liberty Bell award recipient is Mary C. Weidman. In 2021, Mary Weidman retired from a public service career spanning in excess of 54 years, the last 27 years of which she served as Chenango County’s elected County Clerk.

Weidman is the longest serving County Clerk in our history, and remains the first to have been elected to this position. Her public service began in 1967 as a Department of Social Services caseworker and thereafter includes serving as Director of Chenango County Employment and Training, and Deputy Commissioner of Social Services.

Weidman’s community volunteerism includes past service on the Board of Directors for the Community Workshop, United Way, the County Historical Society, the Board of Visitors for the State University of Oneonta, and the Board of Visitors for the Broome Developmental Disabilities Office.

Weidman currently serves as President of the Chenango County Agricultural Society and serves on the Board of Directors for the Northeast Classic Car Museum. She also continues to serve as a volunteer for the Chenango County Historical Society.

-Information provided by the Hon. Frank B. Revoir, Jr.