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LOCK HAVEN -- The Keystone Central Foundation Alumni & Friends Association is pleased to introduce each inductee into the 2024 Class of the Keystone Central Hall of Fame.
Inductees will be honored at a ceremony at Central Mountain High School on Tuesday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m. Tickets, congratulatory messages and ads can be purchased for the event program at www.kcfoundation.com or by calling 570-660-1306. The ceremony will also honor the Keystone Central Foundation's Friends of the Foundation Giving Society and key community partnerships.
Martha Sykes
Bucktail Class of 1969
Every family and every community has one person who is the glue that keeps so much together. For the Bucktail school community, Renovo and beyond, Martha Sykes (Bucktail Class of 1969) is that glue in every sense of the word.
After graduating from Bucktail High School in 1969 and Lock Haven University in 1973, Martha has dedicated her life to education. She retired in 2006 after 33 years as a special education teacher at Renovo Elementary. Today, 18 years after her retirement, she continues to substitute for Keystone Central School District. She is a friendly stalwart for the students, faculty and parents past and present in the Renovo schools. Martha goes above and beyond regular classroom duties to orchestrate memorable senior class experiences like the mother-daughter tea and father-son breakfasts. Martha is also known to rarely miss a sporting event where her local notoriety makes it nearly impossible for anyone to say "NO" to Martha when she is selling 50/50 tickets!
Beyond the school grounds, Martha is engrained in so many aspects of her hometown and the surrounding communities. She serves on the board of directors for the Western Clinton County Recreation Center, the Renovo Library and the Bucktail Medical Center. She modestly comments she is "active" with the Greater Renovo Area Heritage Park, but according to those who have worked with her on this project, she has and remains instrumental in its success. From volunteering for fundraising events, to recording / moderating a series of podcasts to highlight the rich history and culture of the Renovo area, Martha is always willing to lend her time and talents.
She is also a certified lay speaker for the United Methodist Church. In this role, she travels to many different churches and officiates countless funerals where she has offered comfort to and has found comfort in the wonderful families she has met. She serves as a Treasurer for the Council of Churches as well as the Chapman Township Fire Company.
Martha is a proud mom of a daughter, Lisa, and a son, Michael, and her daughter-in-law Kristin. Her two grandsons make her life truly complete.
When Martha isn't volunteering at a special needs church camp every summer or out in her community that she loves so much, she considers her favorite pastimes writing her weekly column for The Record, playing pickleball and line dancing.
Full tributes for all inductees can be found at kcfoundation.com. Others honored in the Class of 2024 include: Alison Bechdel, Michael K. Hanna, Sr., Dr. Sue Kodad-Rex and Judith Laubscher Sensenbrenner.