The Newtown Rotary Club honored recently retired Newtown Bee Editor Nancy Crevier at its August 3, meeting, saying she embodied the club’s mantra of “Service Over Self.”

Crevier retired from the local newspaper at the end of June as long-time Associate Editor John Voket accepted the Editor post.

Rotary President Alex Villamil presented Crevier with a Paul Harris Fellow pin for “wonderful exceptionalism,” he said. Paul Harris founded the club that became the humanitarian organization Rotary International in 1905.

Villamil said the paper provided Crevier with a vehicle to provide important information, along with a means for self-expression by through her development of weekly editorials and the popular “Top Of The Mountain” column, which has since been taken on by Eliza Hallabeck.

“The Bee encapsulates who we are as a town and brings us together,” said Villamil.

Crevier thanked the Rotary Club for their support of the local newspaper over the years, and for the photos and information they sent the paper.

“Thank you Newtown, and thank you Rotarians,” Crevier said.

Both she and Voket asked the Rotary Club members to continue supporting the Bee.

Voket noted the paper is a “local business that is looking to survive and thrive,” and asked that Rotarians, as well as others in town, to consider spending “just 90 cents per week” to get a subscription for themselves, someone else in town, or even a former neighbor or resident who might enjoy catching up on local news even though they have moved elsewhere.

Crevier. echoed that in her remarks, saying, “I encourage people to get a subscription, and see if they like it.”

She stated that now that she’s retired, she finds herself relying on The Bee to stay informed.

Crevier told the Rotarians who gathered for the Tuesday evening meeting at Marygold’s On Main that she started at The Newtown Bee in January 2005 as a feature reporter, and said working at the paper allowed her to “really get to know Newtown.”

From social issues, to personalities, to history and more, her beat helped fill the pages of The Bee.

She created and has continued the popular “Nourishments” food column that appeared semi-regularly; and a report on vaping as it became more popular among local youths earned her a third place award for reporting on social issues at the 2014 New England Newspapers & Press Association competition.

In 2016, the Rotary Club of Newtown honored her with her first Paul Harris Fellow pin for her stories featuring the club’s Gift of Life program.

On being the paper’s first female editor, Crevier said, “It was a big step forward. Segueing from fact-based reporting to the weekly ‘Editorial Ink Drops’ opinion piece was a challenge, but one I was happy to take on.”

Being editor, she said, has been an “honor,” and working at the paper has been a highlight in her life.

Crevier stated that “it’s the people” that resonated with her in her time as editor. “It’s the incredible personal stories people shared with me and let me share with the community.”

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Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.