"Distinguished Service Award" Presented to Gettysburg Borough Manager Charles R. Gable

Gettysburg Borough is proud to announce that Borough Manager Charles R. Gable has been awarded the prestigious Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs’ Distinguished Service Award.  The award, presented at the October Fall Leadership Conference in Erie, recognized Manager Gable’s proactive response to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic to the municipality and for taking appropriate and proactive actions to respond to it.

The award recognizes that when the pandemic hit and restrictive government shutdowns began in March 2020, Charles Gable expected directional and COVID-19 information to flow from the State to County to Borough. However, when it did not happen, he realized that an actionable pandemic emergency plan did not exist.  He was (along with the County, State and Country) in unchartered territory.  Charles pivoted quickly and worked with the Chief of Police and Main Street Gettysburg to answer the question …. “What do we do?”   People wanted to know who is in charge, what is coming next, and how do we prepare to handle the future?

The Award noted that Charles stepped into the leadership role and initiated and supported the following (as described in the award proclamation):

Recognizing the seriousness of the situation both financially and for health and safety concerns, Charles recognized the need to take immediate, comprehensive, and locally focused action.  In doing so, he took on the task himself, disregarding the amount of personal time and efforts required “beyond the call of duty”.

The award noted  Gable should be recognized for his ability to serve the Gettysburg community by initiating a Borough-focused COVID-19 Emergency Taskforce (which also served the broader Adams County community) consisting of the predominant local service agencies,  initiating a food accessibility plan through the local ministerium and Human Services Director, and coordinating with Main Street Gettysburg to create the  Main Street Gettysburg Cares Program - a comprehensive program of free information and connections to local/regional resources regarding COVID-19 management criteria, which included grant availability for local businesses, and sanitation supplies (which were very scarce at the time). 126 businesses signed up for the free program.  Borough staff and a team of MSG volunteers made homemade sanitizer in the Borough cafeteria, marshalled an army of volunteers (affectionately named the 1000 mask brigade who sewed face coverings - which were not commercially available at the time), and created CDC required posters and social distancing signs – all free for local businesses – none of which was easily available at the time.

The award not only honored Borough Manager Gable, but it brought state and national attention to Gettysburg’s efforts to address the challenges brought to municipalities by the pandemic. Gettysburg’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic was lauded as a model to follow for other municipalities across the state and country. This program is described in a YouTube video, which can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH6Moolxg2I .

When asked about being selected for the Distinguished Service Award, Gable said,

“I’m honored and humbled to receive this recognition, however, the real recipients of this award are the multitude of volunteers who worked diligently to respond to an unprecedented emergency. This effort was and is a collaboration of ideas - None of which would have been possible without people working seamlessly together as one united team. For their extraordinary work, I want to especially thank the Borough staff and community volunteers Martha Tozzi, Wendy Allen, and Nancy Kramer for all their hard work, love, and dedication”.