Munter to receive the 2020 Joseph Dalton Community Service Award
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce recently announced that John Munter, Sr., has been selected to receive the 2020 Joseph Dalton Community Service Award.
Munter will receive this award during the Chamber’s 102nd Annual Dinner, on Thursday, Jan. 23 at the Saratoga Springs City Center.
Munter is the third individual to receive this award following Steve “Sully” Sullivan, in 2018, and Tom Roohan, in 2019.
To be eligible to receive the Joseph Dalton Community Service Award, nominees must have a minimum of 25 years of faithful and loyal service to the Saratoga Community.
According to Maria Trabka, executive director of Saratoga PLAN, Munter supervised the original construction by prisoners of the Bog Meadow Trail more than 25 years ago and he volunteered his time just two years ago to see that trail reconstructed and expanded. He also served on Saratoga PLAN’s board of directors for eight years, including as the chair of the organization’s board for two of those years.
“Throughout the summer of 2018, John spent weeks on end installing the culverts and gravel for the Bog Meadow Trail,” Greg Redling of Saratoga PLAN said in a press release. “He frequently worked full days by himself driving skid sheers, front loaders and operating all kinds of machinery. Our staff would check up on him every day in the morning and the afternoon. One day he was covered in mud trying to get his front loader out of five feet of mud. He cut dozens of logs and hauled them out of there. Without this effort, this project would never have been completed.”
His son, Mike Munter, added: “He is not one to enjoy being in the spotlight. He is 81 years old and a native of Saratoga County who has selflessly lent his physical support first and monetary support when people needed it. His impact spans beyond Saratoga County to a 2-year journey with the Army Corp of Engineers to build 2+ miles of trail along the Raquette River at Clarkson University and to build a girls dormitory at a school in Kenya. The trails at Clarkson University were, in fact, named the Munter Trails in 2012 in honor of my dad’s work and leadership.”
Munter is a 1962 graduate of Clarkson University. His career started as a rocket test engineer with GE at the Malta Test Division.
In 1972, he left GE to form Munter Enterprises, a general contracting construction operation. More than four decades later, Munter Enterprises is now run by his two sons, John, Jr., and Mike. The firm specializes in design build commercial and industrial structures, as well as land development for industrial applications.
In 2019, Munter Enterprises helped the Saratoga County Chamber to construct a new 7,700 square foot field house on the Naval Support Activity Center, in Saratoga Springs, to provide U.S. Navy Sailors in the area to have a safe, secure, indoor facility for sports and recreational activities, training and drills, education and graduations.
Munter also served on the board of directors of The Wesley
Community and as the chair of the building and grounds committee for nearly a decade. He served four years as the vice chair of the Saratoga Builders Association as well.
In 2018, Munter purchased Camp Boyhaven in Milton from the Boy Scouts of America Twin Rivers Council to give the Town of Milton and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation time to work out a deal to ensure the 297-acre property remains in public ownership. After the purchase at 80 years old, he was out setting fence posts by himself to safeguard the property for the coming winter.
John lives in Middle Grove with his wife of 51 years, Rosemarie. The couple has two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren.