The NSDAR, or National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, saw a major adaptation to its list of public recognitions and reward ceremonies recently. The Manhattan Chapter of the NSDAR has awarded its first-ever Community Service Award (an NSDAR initiative), and its first recipient was presented with the honor.
The inaugural recipient of the Community Service Award is Lucy Aponte for her exceptional dedication to the Soundview community.
Lucy Aponte’s contributions to Soundview are substantial and beyond what many would consider simply to be a contributing member of the community. First, she founded the Friends of Soundview Park. This alone is one of the pillars of the Soundview community, but it’s not what set her apart for consideration for the Community Service Award.
Instead, it was Lucy Aponte’s dedication to Soundview Park.
Soundview Park is a 200-acre park system that serves as an anchor for local youth to have a safe and substantial area to play, and of course, for everyone to enjoy their outdoor recreational activities. However, Lucy Aponte, as a longstanding citizen of Soundview, noticed the decline of the park and how that decline was damaging the community as a whole.
Rather than watch it fall into disrepair, Aponte took it upon herself to pressure local boards and politicians and secure support for rehabilitating the park.
Lucy Aponte placed more than 200 calls to the Parks Department, spent 9 years fighting for improvement at every possible community meeting, and rallied the community behind the cause. Now, the park is not only well-tended and a proper outdoor recreation area, but Lucy Aponte has also helped add the new butterfly meditation garden, and several new features, and arranged a long list of regular park events that engage the community and bring people together.
These accomplishments have warranted a response from the head of the Manhattan Chapter of NSDAR, Sarah Shea Lynch, and her Vice-Regent Linda Rhodes Jones. Lynch and Jones, along with the rest of the Manhattan NSDAR leadership held a ceremony to bestow the award upon Aponte at the historic Fraunces Tavern in Manhattan.
Among the leadership attendants for the ceremony were Evelyn Carmichael (Chaplain), Audrey Fields (Recording Secretary), Maggie Rhodes Nugent (Corresponding Secretary), Melanie Wells (Treasurer), Alyssa Ritch-Frel (Registrar), Eugenia Askren (Historian), Donna Horak (Librarian). Members include: Mary Marshall Anderson, Patricia Altschul, Eugenia Askren, Maureen Bagwell, Heather L Barlow, Misty Beckenbach-Perez, Anne Elizabeth Fisk Bergan, Elizabeth Boltres, Carolyn Jones Borris, Linda Brooke, Katherine Bryan, Nicole Buzzelli, Evelyn Carmichael, Victoria Hamill Chall, Colette Coffman, Bonnie Comley, Karen Compton, Kelly Costello, Sherry Crichfield, Jennifer Cullinan, Sarah de Donato, Loraine Faina, Audrey Fields, Alyssa Ritch Frel, Becky Gliber, Mary Kate Gorman, Alyssa Haak, Joyce Hanly, Kerensa Harrell, Ellen Rhett Hasell, Donna Horak, Crystal House, Charlotte Hsu, Rebecca Hsu, Sarah Hsu, Jessica Huff, Linda Rhodes Jones, Courtney Katzenstein, Hannah Krause, Michelle Kinney, Heather Lottner, Sarah Shea Lynch, Mary Catherine Ludlam, Jennifer Christine Vaughan Maanavi, Suzanne Mancuso, Colleen Manzo, Martha Millard, Margaret L. Moser, Virginia Mugan, Betty Murray, Miranda Patterson, Joan Pedley, Adriana Pezzulli, Sandra Pezzulli, Renee Phillips, Donna Pointer, Kathy Punzalan, Elizabeth Remington, Elizabeth Davis Reynard, Karen Reynolds, Maggie Elizabeth Rhodes, Muriel Roberts, Grace Sallustio, Rebecca Kay Grindrod Schacht, Sue Scott, Margaret Spencer, Alexandra Spinks, Hannah Streck, Emma Stuhlmann, Vivian Taylor, Katherine Terry, Holly Villaire, and Melanie Wells.
This year not only marks the inauguration of the Community Service Award, but it is also the Manhattan Chapter NSDAR’s 125th anniversary.
DAR members are women who come from diverse backgrounds and have various interests. Their common bond is their lineal descent from the Patriots of the American Revolution. To learn more about The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, visit www.DAR.org to learn more.
