By Barbara Morris
Each year on the last Tuesday in January, members of the Rosedale Civic Association and invited guests are treated to a very special event, the induction into office through the administration of the oath to that association’s board members. In spite of weather that started out to be forbidding and got worse, the program proceeded as planned, minus some folks we had hoped to see. But nevertheless, this year’s ceremony was well-attended.
Decorated tables and chairs arranged in the large meeting hall of Throop Memorial Presbyterian Church indicated to all in attendance that this was a well-planned evening. All the board members who are to serve during the 2004 term were present. Some were busy in the kitchen readying the food that had been prepared at home, some were setting bowls of snacks on the tables, and others were welcoming the hardy souls who braved the sleet and snow to be there.
Boy Scout Troop 556 opened the ceremony by presenting the colors and leading the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner.” The Rev. Dr. Aubrey Bougher, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Christ, led us in prayer. Paul Mader then stood at the podium on which one candle for each board member had been placed. As he read the duties of each office especially as related to the specific candle, the board member being defined stepped forward to light the subject candle.
Rosedale Civic Association President Frederick Kress lit his candle first. Each thereafter (with the exception of the chaplain’s candle) was lit from the president’s candle, indicating the gathering of light and strength from the president’s leadership. The chaplain’s candle was lit from a separate source, symbolizing that there is a higher power to lead us all.
The 2004 Rosedale Civic Association board members are President Kress, Vice President Marie Granato, Treasurer Irnel Stephen, Financial Secretary Mader, Corresponding Secretary Kathleen Richards, Recording Secretary Loretta Panebianco, Sergeant at Arms Arthur Panebianco and Chaplain Bougher.
Jerry LaMura from Queen Borough President Helen Marshall’s office graciously agreed to administer the collective oath of office, and Kress presented a well-deserved award to Officer Brian Wimpelberg for his spectacular, determined effort to clean up Rosedale’s trouble spots.
Another presentation was made to Hopeton Thomas, who served so well during his term as vice president. Special recognition was also given to Stephen for his 20-year membership, mostly as treasurer.
The ceremony was completed by the retiring of the colors by the Boy Scouts and their leading us in the singing of “God Bless America.” The timing was perfect because the air had become full of fragrances of the abundant good food.
The Rosedale Civic Association has proven once again that it has the kind of leadership and loyalty that the United States of America needs.
Its members communicate not only at their monthly meetings but monthly through their prize-winning, multipage newsletter, encouraging and rewarding membership and community participation in volunteer work. This work includes efforts with the Rosedale Civilian Patrol and other matters cooperative with the New York City Police Department, the Cornucopia Society and various projects with the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Cornucopia Society, the Boy Scouts of America and other youth- and senior-related activities.
Somehow they do all this and more on the $10-per-year membership fee. I think that would be a real challenge to any other group that might try to compete. May they always meet and exceed the high standards this board and those before them (including Chairman Emeritus George Wien and Chairman James English) have set. They all deserve to be congratulated.
