Jerry Ludwig

Volunteer of the Month - May 2006

Why Volunteer of the Month?

Jerry is being singled out as volunteer of the month for this reason: out of all the volunteers who helped to make the Chili Cook-off the huge success it was, Jerry had, by far, the most disgusting job. He was the garbage man. Yep, that’s right. All day long, the fantastic Mr. Ludwig hauled bag after bag of garbage away from the festivities, never complaining, never flagging. He was even smiling! Now THAT is the stuff that a true volunteer is made of!
Thanks, Jerry!

About Jerry

Jerry Ludwig was born in St. Louis, Missouri and was raised in Cocoa Beach, Florida. (Isn’t that where Major Nelson and Jeannie lived?) He attended Cocoa Beach High School and later received his Bachelor of Science, Computer Science at California Polytechnic University. Unlike most of us, Jerry is actually using his college degree, working as a software engineer for Cisco Systems.

He is married to Terri Ludwig and together they have two daughters, eight year-old Young Rep kid Andrea and five year-old Claire. Speaking of daughters, Jerry also volunteers as a girls’ soccer and softball coach. Clearly, a doting daddy!

Our V.O.L. is interested in many things, including computers (naturally!), sports and, thanks to his actress daughter, musical theater!

Jerry and Cinnabar

“We came to Cinnabar because of my daughter Andrea, the actress. She loves acting. I love watching. It makes a pretty good combination. I sit in dark rooms fairly well, and she loves acting with bright lights. Andrea took a class for tots about 3 years ago, and then ended up being ½ of Sorrow/Trouble in the opera Madame Butterfly, so we’ve loved Cinnabar for a long time. She specializes in comedy right now, but hopes to transition to music and drama as she matures. So far, Andrea has been in about five full- scale productions (three with Cinnabar) and the top three are all Cinnabar. Everything about Cinnabar is wonderful.

“I help out as I can. I make a lot of DVD’s for Cinnabar, and I take the trash out some, mostly at the Chili Cook-off. Andrea is going to be in the summer program for the 3rd straight year, of course. I’ve been slightly involved financially.”

How has his family benefited from involvement with Cinnabar?

“This is a little like asking how a fish benefits from water. Andrea was born an actress. She needs Cinnabar. Of course, the rest of us benefit by watching entertaining things!”