GLEN SPEY, NY — Most of the Lumberland Town Board’s brief November 9 meeting was devoted to reporting from the town’s historian and grant writer, Frank Schwarz.

Appointed by a town board chaired by the late Tom Hill, Schwarz has been Lumberland Town Historian for the past 31 years, and his pride in his achievements is evident.

In September, he was named the recipient of the 2016 Franklin D. Roosevelt Local Government Historian Professional Achievement Award (think Man of the Year) from the Association of Public Historians of New York State. However the award itself was delivered only recently, and he displayed it for the board during his report.

Among many efforts over the years, Schwarz has: created the town’s Museum Room in the town hall, argued for the preservation of the town’s historic 19th-century mansions, researched and indexed the town’s seven cemeteries, created an eight-page cemetery grave locator brochure and a comprehensive map of the three sections of the town cemetery, and most recently a guide brochure for the town’s historic markers.

An Eagle Scout in his youth, Schwarz actively supports Scout candidates with their Eagle projects.

But the role that has made him popular among everyone in town government is his grant-writing skill. After that skill became apparent, the board in 2008 created a second position, that of grant writer.

“He’s an integral part of the town government,” said Supervisor Jenny Mellan. She recalled that recently highway superintendent Don “Bosco” Hunt needed to update state highway software, Schwarz got it for him. “When someone needs something that isn’t in our budget, they go talk to Frank,” she added.

His grant efforts have been widespread. In part they have recently funded, either in whole or in part, various consultant-aided projects and studies, and restoration work on and inside the town hall and neighboring administration building and senior center.

Schwarz recalled sweltering summer meetings in the hall in the 1980s, prior to air conditioning. He managed an energy audit for the hall, and one of his grants in recent years paid for the second generation air conditioning now in place.

He’s pressed for low-energy lighting and last week he reported that the energy costs for town buildings had fallen $2,129.94 from 2015 through 2016 and $255.19 just last month. “I think we’re on the right track. There are other things we can do, but we’re on the right track,” he said.

He also reported notification of $2,000 through a Sullivan County “Plans in Progress” grant, for repairs or replacements of the hall’s windows, belfry pull-ropes, spire, tower and chimney cap.

Based on Schwarz’s applications, state Sen. John Bonacic has provided $50,000 in each of the past two years for “bricks and mortar” work, and the latest $50,000, to help fund a new highway department dump truck, is nearing final approval.

He has not overlooked history in his efforts. The Upper Delaware Council last year funded creation and publication of a self-guided tour brochure of Lumberland’s 25 highway historic site markers. When Schwarz was appointed, there were no historic markers in the town.

Schwarz is a pianist, and his first effort as historian was seeing to the restoration of an antique Steinway piano that had made its way to the hall. The restoration led to concerts and the concerts led to the town’s ongoing “Cultural Series,” which Schwarz also coordinates.

Last week, he reported approval of the Cultural Series’ “largest-ever” grant, $2,330. It came from the New York State Council on the Arts through the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance.

“It’s not just the money,” Mellan said. “He’s keeping history alive and bringing culture here. There’s a lot of things people have here, that they would not have if he hadn’t brought them,” she said.