Seventy-five years in the making

| 12 Nov 2014 | 02:06

By Roger Gavan
— The Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 75th Anniversary Membership Dinner on Saturday evening, Nov. 8, with the theme "Diamond Gala Rock of Ages" at the Red Tail Lodge at Mountain Creek in Vernon, N.J,

The festive evening, a tribute to the past 75 years, featured a cocktail hour, dinner and dancing to the music of the New York Swing Exchange.

Before dinner, Executive Director Michael Johndrow welcomed the 184 guests who attended the event and singled out several dignitaries who were there. They included Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Mayor Michael Newhard, Monroe Chamber President Paul Campanella and Christine Krahulik, who recently won the election for Orange County Family Court Judge.

Thanks
He also introduced committee members of the Local Development Corporation and gave special thanks to his Board of Directors and his staff for their contributions to the chamber and community at large.

Warwick Chamber President Sherry Bukovcan, who received the "Presidential Award," mentioned that this was the last of her six-year term on the Executive Board of Directors. She said that she was especially grateful to members of the Executive Board, the Board of Directors and the Executive Director as well as for the hard work by chamber staff members Sarah Armand and Jerrica Lavooy.

48 ribbon-cuttings since January

Immediately after the nominations and the election of the Board of Directors for 2015, Johndrow gave his traditional keynote speech regarding the "State of the Chamber."

He reported that the Warwick Chamber now had 525 members, 85 of which were new members, and that to date there had been 48 new business ribbon cuttings this year.

"People see value in being in the Warwick Valley," he said, "and Warwick has recently been named one of the 10 best weekend destinations in the nation."

Johndrow also welcomed and introduced Duane Albro, former CEO of Alteva (previously known as the Warwick Valley Telephone Company), founder of the Warwick Development Corporation (now the Local Development Corporation) and a strong supporter of the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Garrett Durland, Kenneth Durland, Cedric Glasper, Robert Krahulik and Paul Rafanello were also asked to come forward for the Past Presidents Recognition.

Awards
Each year at the event, the chamber presents awards to four of its most outstanding members. This year's award recipients were:

Adam Powers, owner of three Warwick business establishments - Fetch, Village Billiards and Fizzy Lifting Soda Pop and Candy Shop - for Entrepreneur of the Year.

Thomas Roberts and Joseph Justin, owners of Ye Olde Warwick Book Shoppe in Warwick, for Best Building Renovation.

Janine Dethmers of Corporate Impressions was named Volunteer of the Year. Dethmers also served as Chair of this year's Gala.

And finally Bukovcan, of Mary Kay Cosmetics, was awarded MVP (Most Valuable Person) of the Year.