WEST ORANGE — The Chamber of Commerce celebrated people who make a difference at their annual awards dinner on May 21 at the Rock Spring Golf Club.
The event celebrates people at the core of the community, including police, fire, academic and business leaders, who stand out by virtue of their hard work, compassion and excellence.
Pastor Arizia Harlington of the newly opened Spanish Campus of the Life Christian Church gave the invocation.
“We are celebrating all the work you do,” Harlington said. “I am grateful you serve the community but also the Hispanic community.”
Tezeta “Tez” Roro, a past chamber president, emceed the event, which included remarks by current chamber president Dr. Ron Silikovitz.
“We meet to honor a number of recipients who made meaningful contributions to our community,” Silikovitz said.
Some of the people honored at the event – an educator, firefighter and police officer – were nominated by supervisors while others – a foundation, a business, a youth entrepreneur and a student – were nominated and then selected by a committee of chamber members.
Superintendent of Schools Hayden Moore presented the Educator of the Year award to Felix Plata, who is supervisor of world languages and English as a second language instruction.
“His commitment extends beyond enriching our students,” Moore said. “Felix has been an indispensable point of support for our school community.”
Moore said Plata has had a profound impact on many lives. “The entire school district and township have benefited from his commitment,” Moore said.
In accepting the award, Plata noted that everyone in the room of about 85 people had impacted the community. He also noted the diversity of West Orange and how people get along and get things done.
“We can look different and have different ideologies but we have the commitment to work together and support each other,” he said. “If only the country and the world could be more like West Orange.”
Police Department Detective Matt Fuela presented the Police Officer of the Year award to Detective Lawrence Dominguez and noted that he was
sitting with his wife and children but also his father. Dominguez’s father was a Newark police officer who was wounded in the line of duty.
“We celebrate a detective who sets a standard for tenacity, integrity and results,” Fuela said. He is a pillar of our department who sets the standard of investigative excellence.”
Dominguez cited his father as an excellent role model and offered thanks for the award.
“Like most people, we don’t go into this field for praise but to serve,” he said.
Fire Department Chief Anthony Vecchio presented the Firefighter of the Year award to Capt. Glen Coppola, who before becoming a firefighter had been an emergency medical technician and park ranger at the Statue of Liberty.
“Glen is a man of action and results,” Vecchio said. “He has become a go to officer for other firefighters.”
The Business of the Year award went to Right At Home of Essex County.
Maeghan Scott, who owns the business with her mother, Melodie Toby, talked about how her father started the business, which specializes in care for seniors and adults with disabilities, in 2004.
“We are a family business in the business of families,” she said.
The award for Outstand Advocacy and Community Impact went to The Nikhil Badlani Foundation.
Roger Schneider, a chamber member, gave out the award, and talked about how the Badlani family turned their grief into something positive.
Sangeeta and Sunil Badlani accepted the award with Sunil praising the audience, saying “none of this would be possible without the West Orange Community.”
For the first time, a Youth Entrepreneur award was given out. It went to Justin Bister, 18, and The Grace Garden. Brister grows and sells fruits and vegetables but also gives tours of his garden and teaches people how to garden. The University of Connecticut bound student plans to study horticulture.
The last award of the evening went to Sahil Dani Negassi for Academic Excellence.
Negassi is a West Orange High School student who scored a perfect 1600 on his SATs. He is also on the Cross Country, Track and Field, and Math teams. He is a member of the Chess Club and the National Honor Society.
Negassi said that life is about trial and error and he encouraged people to think about life as being like creating art.
“Please don’t fight for statistics,” he said. “Fight for character.”
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