A longtime Shrewsbury resident is getting ready to accept not one, but two big awards in the coming weeks.
Edwin B. “Ted” Coghlin, Jr. will be recognized at the on Jan. 28 as well as the on Feb. 11.
Coghlin, who has lived in town for more than 50 years, will receive the Shrewsbury Education Foundation Community Service Award for Shrewsbury Public Schools, which is granted “to an individual who has made a notable difference in public education.”
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He will also receive the Harry S. Cutting Jr. Award which, according to Maureen Harrington, chair for the SYFS' 8th Annual Gala, honors an individual, family or organization which serves Shrewsbury residents through active community involvement and has demonstrated a series of achievements, projects, and/or accomplishments for the Shrewsbury community done in a selfless, charitable manner, among other criteria.
Coghlin’s service to the town started many years ago. The 76-year-old said he chaired a building committee in the early 1960s which led to the opening of Shrewsbury Junior High School (now ) in 1964 and in 1968. Later, in the early 1990s, he served as chairman of the building committee for the .
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He has also been active with the Boy Scouts of America Mohegan Council, having chaired a capital campaign which raised funds and helped acquire land for the Treasure Valley Scout Reservation. Coghlin continues to serve on the board for the Mohegan Council and as one of three trustees of Treasure Valley, a 1600-acre property that spans the towns of Rutland, Oakham, Spencer, and Paxton.
For more than 30 years, Coghlin has also chaired the advisory boards of Worcester Technical High School.
“My interest is in youth succeeding as the next generation,” he said.
Among other organizations, he has also been involved with the Shrewsbury Little League and the United Way.
“Ted’s an amazing person and he’s given selflessly for years,” Harrington said. “We’re happy as an organization to recognize him…he’s very deserving.”
“I’m humbled, I’m honored,” Coghlin said of being chosen for the awards. “I feel an awful lot of other worthy recipients are out there and I’m happy to accept them on behalf of all the wonderful people I’ve worked with.”
Coghlin, who also continues to serve as treasurer of Coghlin Companies, said he has no plans of slowing down in the near future.
“I think when you slow down and you just become a couch potato, the brain stops working and there’s so many things still to do,” he said. “It’s been just a lot of fun.”
According to Harrington, tickets and sponsorships for the SYFS Gala are still available. For more information, call 508-845-6932.
For more information on the SEF Grant Awards Dinner, email dmusselman@townisp.com, call 508-845-9792.
