RSS 2.0 FeedAugust 26, 2010, Wantagh Seaford Citizen
Women of Distinction honored
Local women honored for their good works.
State Assemblyman David McDonough honored several Wantagh and Seaford citizens as “Women of Distinction” Saturday. They include:
Martha Verdi
A longtime resident of Wantagh, Martha Verdi and her husband Joe have four grown sons and six grandchildren, Jacquelyn, Mikayla, Joseph, Justin, Christopher and Josiah. Mrs. Verdi handles the day-to-day operations of Income Tax Plus in North Bellmore, which she co-owns with husband Joe.
As the membership representative for the Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores, she recruits new businesses to join the chamber. She also personally visits and welcomes each new business in the Bellmore community.
She has been very involved in numerous committees, including the installation dinner, annual street festival, holiday gatherings and Easter and Halloween parades and is best known for never hesitating to volunteer her time and energy for whatever projects arise. Her creativity and business acumen shine through, particularly at installation dinners. It is her beautifully arranged gift baskets that help make this event one to remember.
Her idea to promote the many chamber members by presenting goodie bags containing items from each business is free advertising and a great marketing tool.
Joan Mahoney Brown
Raised in Glen Head, Joan Mahoney Brown is one of three sisters who are first- generation Americans. Currently a Wantagh resident, Joan and her husband Chris have two beautiful children, seven- year-old Liam and three-year-old Kathleen.
After graduating from Molloy College’s Nursing Program, she immediately began working at the Emergency Room at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Later moving to Huntington Hospital, she was employed as a nurse manager, a position she maintained for several years prior to her son’s birth.
Today she still works part-time at Huntington Hospital in the capacity of Emergency Room nurse. For her commitment and dedication as an EMS technician, in 1995, then-County Executive Tom Gulotta recognized her as an EMS Provider of the Year.
As co-owner, alongside her husband, Chris, and administrator of Mid-Island Medical Supply Company, she handles the day-to-day operations of the family business, allowing him to share his time and energy in various capacities throughout the community, including as president of the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce.
For her business acumen and expertise, she was recently chosen to participate in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, a philanthropic endeavor to reach businesses across the country. One of 25 individuals chosen in our area, she is enrolled in a mini-MBA program at the Wharton School of Business at LaGuardia College.
Linda Toscano
As publisher of L & M Publications, together with her brother, editor Paul Laursen, and their professional staff, Linda Toscano has kept her parents’ legacy alive by continuing the newspaper business they created many years ago. Today, The Wantagh-Seaford Citizen, Merrick Life, Bellmore Life and The Freeport-Baldwin Leader are all part of
L & M Publications. It is her dedication to her parents’ memory that prompted her to help advocate for the Meroke county preserve, a pleasant little nature preserve sandwiched between Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road. The entrance sign reads Faith Laursen Meroke Preserve, in honor of her mother. A longtime board member of the Merrick Chamber of Commerce, she continues to be a part of the many programs they offer.
Along with the Chamber, Merrick Life is a co-sponsor of the Merrick Merchant and Professional of the Year and the Man and Woman of the Year. Married and the mother of three children, and grandmother of two, she has taught her family by example what she believes to be important in life: family and community. Two of her children are teachers and her youngest, Cristina, recently won the Knights of Pythias Award for Community Service.
Linda Hurley
Linda and her husband Delayne have been residents of Seaford for 23 years. The mother of 6 children, Linda immersed herself in organizations that would enhance her children’s academic and extracurricular activities experiences. She served as a member of the Seaford Shared Decision Making Teams and was an officer of the Seaford Harbor School PTA, the High School-Middle School PTSA and the Seaford Booster Club.
An elected member of the Seaford Board of Education, she served nine years in that capacity. During her tenure, she was instrumental in helping resolve teacher and administrator contracts, hiring talented staff, upgrading the district’s facilities and developing fiscally prudent school budgets. Above all, she was an advocate for the students of Seaford. With all the responsibilities that come with raising 6 children and the various school organizations in which she was involved, she still found time to teach religious education at St. William the Abbot, which she did for 10 years.
For her dedication to the school district and community, she was named a 2010 Honorary Seaford Patriot Award Recipient. This award is presented to members of the community who represent the spirit of the five Seaford High School alumni who were lost on September 11, 2001.
Janice Seyfried
A lifelong resident of Wantagh, Janice Seyfried remembers when most of her hometown was farmland and there were migrant worker shacks on the land where the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway is now located. Eventually, her parents purchased a farm upstate and she attended Elmira College, where she obtained a degree in Economics/Accounting. Soon after graduating, she joined the faculty of Baldwin Senior High School as a business teacher, where she remained until her retirement in 1994.
During her tenure, she was instrumental in creating the computer program in the business department and created two courses to be offered at the school, piloting both of them. For her efforts and expertise, the Association of Computer Educators (ACE), a tri-state organization of technology teachers, named her “Outstanding Educator of the Year” in 1990. Since retiring, she has become very involved in Kiwanis, which she joined in 1995.
Over the years, the Kiwanis Club of Wantagh has run food drives, sent kids to Kamp Kiwanis, built ramps for the handicapped and held clothing drives, just to mention a few of their activities. In 1995, she was instrumental in chartering the first Key Club in the world for the handicapped or special needs. The Center for Community Adjustment of Wantagh’s Key Club, located at BOCES in Wantagh, continues to thrive to this day.
Currently, she serves as a recruiter and new club builder, as well as division secretary to the Long Island South Central Division of the New York District of Kiwanis. For her work with Kiwanis, she has been honored many times, including being named Kiwanian of the Year at both the club and division level in the same year and receiving the George L. Prout Award for outstanding newsletter in all of Kiwanis International.
Vilma Nuzio
Nominated by not one, but seven separate individuals, the words “selfless,” “caring,” “compassionate” and “generous” are common refrains when describing Vilma Nuzio. A Wantagh resident, she spent the first half of her adult life raising her five children. Deciding to work outside her home once her children were in school, she took a position as a receptionist in the Parish Social Ministry at St. James Church.
What happened during her tenure changed her life, that of her family, and those who came in contact with her each day. Helping with food, clothing, rent money, and perhaps more importantly, a listening ear and smiling face, she helped lighten the burdens of those who came in contact with her. Eventually promoted to director of Parish Social Ministry, she dedicated 15 years to St. James Church. She has lobbied for more support for the poor, fought to get families off the streets and into safe homes, and helped rebuild the lives of those who lost everything due to a traumatic event, to name but a few of her efforts.
Ele Ruth Melendez
An advocate for those who are unable to help themselves, Ele Ruth Melendez is the outreach director of the Parish Social Ministry Office at St. Frances de Chantal in Wantagh. Because of her hard work and determination, the Social Ministry Office has become a benchmark for all such offices in Nassau County.
In addition to running a successful pantry and thrift shop, she makes herself available, not only to those in need of assistance in the Parish of St. Frances, but also the surrounding parishes as well. Maintaining a successful working relationship with local Protestant churches and Jewish temples is important to her. She went to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help the storm victims, as well as aiding the victims of human trafficking right here on Long Island. She has been honored with New York State Assembly Certificate of Merit, Valiant Woman Award and Everyday Hero Award by the Kiwanis Club of Wantagh, among many others.
