Ellen Freyman, an attorney with the law firm Shatz, Schwartz & Fentin P.C., was selected by the Ad Club of Western Massachusetts to receive the prestigious Pynchon Award Medal for 2012 for her outstanding public service. Freyman, a Longmeadow resident, is credited with helping to save Springfield’s Dunbar Community Center. She is also the founder of the non-profit organization On Board, Inc., and works to help Springfield’s Somali community resettle in Springfield with the help of Jewish Family Services. Over the past 6 years she has worked directly with Somali families, finding them housing, furniture, jobs and important services.
She serves on more than 10 boards dedicated to educational and community service including the Springfield Technical Community College Foundation, Elms College, the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter, and The Community Music School of Springfield, MA.
Freyman and her husband, Richard, have two sons. She calls the Pynchon Award “an honor and a thrill” and a “wonderful experience” that she is delighted to share with two outstanding individuals. The Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts also named Stephen E. Hays, and Robert J. Perry as winners of the annual William Pynchon Medal. Bronze medals bearing the likeness of Pynchon will be given to the honorees at an awards dinner and ceremony on November 15 at 6 p.m. at Chez Josef in Agawam.