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The title slide on a slide show that entertained and informed diners before the meal. It featured photos of Jim Wilson posing with his friends in and out of The Arc of Schuyler.

Dinner honors Jim Wilson, Arc's 'Man of Many Hats'

Longtime Arc of Schuyler Executive Director is retiring after 33 years

WATKINS GLEN, June 17 -- They were there in force Thursday night at the Harbor Hotel to honor the man who has been the face and voice of The Arc of Schuyler since its inception. They were there to honor Jim Wilson, the Arc's executive director for 33 years, and now retiring.

He is calling it a career and settling in at home in Himrod after three decades that affected many in attendance at Thursday's tribute dinner -- 230 friends, family members and Arc personnel present to honor "a man of many hats," to use the popular term of the evening.

"Who is this guy, Jim Wilson?" asked Jay Hoffmeier, the first speaker of the evening and president of the Arc of Schuyler Board of Directors. "Well, he's a storyteller, a truthteller, a leader and a follower, a mentor and a critic, a saint and a devil. He's cool, calm and collected, and a nervous wreck who can't stand still."

Hoffmeier introduced a short film prepared by The Arc that illustrated Wilson's propensity for wearing different hats -- a humorous encounter on a bus ride with the Arc's Ray Stebbins in which the two literally, after admiring each other's hat, exchanged them.

There was another, longer, more serious film that illustrated the civil rights battle in this country, something in which Wilson -- a social activist in his early days -- was directly involved, including walking in a protest in Selma, Alabama during the 1960s.

He was also, Schuyler County Administrator Tim O'Hearn said in a dinner speech, a man "with political intentions" in the 1970s -- specifically 1976, when Wilson ran for the State Assembly from a district encompassing Tioga and Chemung Counties.

"I lost in the Democratic primary by about 400 votes," Wilson recalls. "It was (voters in) Elmira that did me in."

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"A lot of different people have lots of different views of Jim," said Hoffmeier. "He's a mystery to some, and an open book to others."

To one -- Larry Tanner, who has known Wilson for 40 years, "since we both worked at Challenge Industries in Ithaca," Tanner told the dinner gathering -- Wilson is simply "my friend. That's the way I always consider him: my friend."

Then he added: "Jim, you always seem to have a sparkle in your eye, some mischief up your sleeve."

Another speaker, Lakewood Vineyard's Liz Stamp, lauded Wilson for serving as a mentor to her while they were on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She said she noticed at first that he was very quiet most of the time, and then realized he was listening, absorbing before making a judgment on whatever issue was being discussed. "Being quiet and listening," she said, are things "I now strive to be better at."

And Wilson -- a man who has served many community efforts over the years -- "is always there with good advice and an honest opinion," Stamp said. "Quiet, listening, he told us what we needed to hear when we needed to hear it.

"I hope," she added, speaking directly to Wilson, "that you spend a little of your time doing what you want to do, not what you feel you have to do."

O'Hearn praised Wilson as "friend, colleague and mentor. I feel blessed to be able to share in this ceremony ... It's worth saying: His term as Executive Director of The Arc -- 33 years -- is nothing short of outstanding. And he's leaving the organization and the community in outstanding shape.

"He's provided a quiet, effective leadership in everything he's taken on."

The evening featured dinner, music by Tom Bloodgood and The Unusual Suspects -- featuring, among others, Lou Cicconi -- and a silent auction of goods from Wilson's office. That was the brainchild of The Arc's Assistant Executive Director, Jeannette Frank, who along with other Arc personnel convinced Wilson to relinquish such items as an Elvis clock, campaign literature from Wilson's 1976 Assembly campaign, a chair he used in his office, and three different framed social protest posters from his earlier days.

Money raised from the auction were to go to help the operation of the Franklin Street Gallery -- run by The Arc -- and the Gallery's Community Arts Program.

Who is Jim Wilson? As the speakers said, he is a man of many hats -- including a classmate of actor Danny DeVito. The two were pictured in the 1962 yearbook of the Oratory School, a prep school in Summit, New Jersey. The yearbook was on display Thursday along with other Wilson items, including his recent Paul Harris Fellow honor from the Watkins-Montour Rotary Club.

Jeannette Frank, in brief remarks at the dinner, noted that Wilson is a man who excels "at getting in other people's way, and I mean that in the best way." Doing that -- imposing oneself in the middle of a situation in which the status quo is not the best course to follow -- "is the best way to achieve change," she said. "He would always push for more, for better.

"We'll do our best, Jim, to maintain your visionary leadership in the years to come."

And what will Wilson do in retirement?

"I'm not going to do anything for about six months," he said in a quiet moment preceding the speeches. "I'm just going to relax and try to figure it all out."

Photos in text:

From top: Jim Wilson, his 1976 Assembly campaign literature, Arc Board Chair Jay Hoffmeier, and speaker Tim O'Hearn.

Jim Wilson's entry in the Oratory School yearbook ...

... and the entry for actor Danny DeVito in the same yearbook.

Left: Musician Tom Bloodgood performs a song at the dinner. Right: Musician Elvis Presley as a clock on the wall, and up for bid at the dinner.

Left: One of Jim Wilson's social-protest posters up for bid in the silent auction. Right: Attendee Gary Herzig.

Left: Lou Cicconi was one of the musicians. Right: Tom Phillips was one of the diners.