Chamber Award For Community Achievement

At its sixth annual Pineapple Ball at the Garden City Hotel, Friday evening, April 18, the Garden City Chamber of Commerce will proudly present to Dennis Donnelly, the coveted Community Achievement Award. Established in 1974, this recognition commemorates outstanding professionalism and major contributions to the Village of Garden City and beyond through one's profession,

Dennis Donnelly has lived in Garden City since 1969 and resides in the Eastern Section of the Village where he currently serves as president of the Eastern Property Owners' Association. In addition to his duties as president, Dennis also serves as chairman of the Joint Conference Committee of Garden City's four Property Owners' Associations. He has also served as chairman of the ten-member Nominating Committee, as a member of the St. Paul's Survey Committee and as vice president. A major contributor to the efforts of the Chamber of Commerce, Dennis has served several terms as a director and is a member of the Executive Committee. He has served as the chairman of the Chamber's Pineapple Ball Committee since the inception of the event in 2003.

Dennis retired from Verizon Communications in 2004 as Director of Government and Community Relations for the Long island region. He spent 35 years at Verizon and its predecessors (New York Telephone, Nynex and Bell Atlantic). Dennis had numerous assignments including working with the movie industry, the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, operations management, process engineering, public communications and advertising.

Dennis Donnelly has been honored by numerous organizations, having been named "Man of the Year," by the Queens Museum, the Flushing Council on Culture and Arts, St. Mary's Hospital Foundation, the YMCA, the Flushing Boys Club and Brooklyn Friends School.

He served as chairman of the Board of the Queens County Overall Economic Development Corp., the Downtown Brooklyn Development Corp., Queens Festival Corp, Flushing Boys Club, the Flushing YMCA, Astoria Motion Picture Foundation and Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts. Dennis is also past president of the Flushing Rotary Club and a board member of the Gift of Life Program of Rotary International. Of note, is his appointment by Mayors Lindsey, Beame and Koch to various ad hoc committees involving New York City operations.

Dennis served as Centennial Soccer Coach and is a member of St. Joseph's Church. He and his wife of 31 years, Nancy, have three children who have all attended Garden City schools. Tara is a 4th grade teacher in Bellrose, Queens; Erin is currently

working in the Medical Billing Department of St. Mary's Hospital and Brian is a student at Nassau Community College.

A consummate volunteer himself, Dennis encourages everyone to get involved in the community. "It is through the volunteer efforts of many residents that Garden City has maintained its beauty and stability," he notes.

Dennis Donnelly will share honors at the Pineapple Ball with Gerard Lundquist, Citizen of the Year and Stuart Lubow, Business Person of the Year. The Chamber acknowledges with thanks three "Gold" sponsors to date: Community National Bank, KeySpan Energy/National Grid, Sperry Credit Union, and Verizon; also, "Friend of the Chamber," Beechwood Organization (Meadowbrook Pointe).

For reservations, sponsorship or Journal ad information, please call Tracey Gittere at Legendary Events (516) 222=0550 or visit the Chamber website at www.GardenCitiyChamber.org.