Republican Club gives Lifetime Achievement Award

The Angelo Graci Republican Club gathered in the great room of the Christ Lutheran Community Center in Ozone Park recently, for their annual awards luncheon.
About 50 members and guests assembled on Saturday, April 26, to applaud honoree Elaine McGuire, a longtime-member of the club as the recipient of the Arlene Fiumano Lifetime Achievement Award.
Fiumano, one of the “five old ladies” who founded the club, was a much-beloved and outspoken community activist and the award is presented to those who have emulated her lifetime’s work in the community.
“Arlene was the glue that held this club together and a strong supporter of Christ Church,” said club President Bernie Solow. “Elaine has supported the club and the neighborhood for many, many years,” he presented the award to McGuire.
The group presented a “Grass Roots Leadership Award” to neighborhood activist Tom Lynch, who praised the new Republican leadership in Queens County and called upon his fellow members to unify behind their candidates.
The leadership award was also presented to good-government advocate Michael Ricatto, founder of Better Leadership America.
Ricatto, whose group is non-partisan and doesn’t endorse candidates, exhorted those in attendance to make their voices heard on the issues.
“Knock on doors, shake hands and talk to people,” he advised, as a means of increasing the political impact of their neighborhood.
With only two Republicans currently holding seats in the City Council, the election of a Democratic Governor and only the slimmest of majorities in the State Senate, Republicans are aggressively trying to increase membership in their local clubs.
The Graci Republican Club elected six new members at their April meeting, just four days before the luncheon.
The new members, mostly young staffers for State Senator Serphin Maltese, assured the membership that they would give the same attention to the Graci club as they do to the many other Republican groups to which they belong.
At least one, Daniel O’Connor, could be seen on Saturday, enjoying the abundant Italian food and applauding his newly-embraced leadership.