May 6, 2022

A celebration of volunteerism, a meeting of friends

Six people, and a business, were honored Saturday morning

Was it a formal ceremony, or more of a gathering of friends that took place in Memorial Park in Highland Falls last Saturday? 

By about 11 a.m., no one could tell the difference.

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The formal part of the event was the 20th annual ‘People Who Make A Difference’ recognition event, hosted by The Center and the Hudson Valley Women’s Association & Friends. That was immediately followed by a lingering in the park of most who attended the ceremony -- and some others who were attracted by the crowd -- as people chatted happily after a long winter indoors.

The event honored five individuals and one business. Each was introduced by other members of the community, and then received honors from both the hosts, and Senator James Skoufis’ representative Mike Anagnostakis. HVWAF President Ann Molina welcomed everyone to the event, and closed it with a grateful thank you to her board members -- Rich Fox, Brian Aylward, Denise Gibney and Cathy McCutchen -- for their hard work year after year. Master of Ceremony was John Hunter (up from Kissimmee, Florida specifically for the event). The invocation was offered by Rev. Marty Tyce and the benediction by Pastor Agnes Saffoury. 

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But the ‘stars of the show’ were the following honorees, all who were accompanied by the friends and family who made up the audience. They were:

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- Colin Monaghan. Monaghan is a freshman at O’Neill High School who is quickly earning a reputation for his active volunteer work in the community. He’s a Boy Scout -- in fact, was on a Scout camping trip last weekend but came home just for the ceremony. He was presented his ‘Rising Star’ award by Highland Falls native Malik Johnson, who first met Monaghan when they were partnered during the O’Neill High School-Fort Montgomery Elementary School Reading Buddies program nearly a decade ago. 

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- Ryan Falk. Falk was unable to be at the event, but received a round of applause for his service to the community as not only an employee of the Town of Highlands, but also chief of the Fort Montgomery Fire Department. His mom, Marty Byrnes, had been scheduled to give him his award.

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- Malik Johnson. Johnson is now a third grade teacher at a charter school in Utica, after earning his degree from SUNY Polytech. A standout athlete through his childhood and high school days at O’Neill, he also is an accomplished musician, performing under the name LeekyIV. He was presented his award from Aylward, who noted that Johnson’s commitment to community service comes from his long family tradition of it.

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- Rev. Dorett Mann Richards. The niece of the late St. John’s AME Zion Church Pastor Ethel Johnson, Richards is a Navy veteran who lives in the Portsmouth, Va. area where she works as a healthy system strategist and leads community worship services and programs. She was presented her honor by the Rev. Julius Collins, a former resident of Highland Falls and now the pastor of the Ellenville Shiloh Baptist Church. 

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- Dennis McCutchen. Fort Montgomery’s Bernie Cassidy, a retired Battalion Chief in the FDNY, where McCutchen is currently a firefighter, presented this honor. He noted that he was McCutchen’s coach when he and his team won the Orange County CYO basketball championship many years ago.  McCutchen was thanked for his life-saving work with the FDNY; he was accompanied by his wife, three children and mother, Cathy McCutchen.

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- Bear Mountain Pizza and Café. This business, and owner Providence Aiossa, were honored by Councilman Jim Modlin. While Aiossa could not be in attendance at the event, Modlin thanked her for going above and beyond during the pandemic making sure no one in town went hungry, and the welcoming environment she has created at her restaurant.

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There was one other speaker at the event -- Supervisor Bob Livsey. He spoke about how he, as supervisor, does the best that he can for the town with what he has, in both staff and money.

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“I don’t know what I would do without the volunteers of this community,” he said, listing organizations like the fire and ambulance departments, youth sports coaches, churches, and civic and service organizations. These two groups do a great job of finding those people to honor each year, and I thank them for that.”