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‘07 Behlen Community Service Awards – Outstanding Bay Ridge couple and founding organizers win honors

By Helen Klein

Two long-time community activists were lauded this past Sunday at a luncheon held to raise money for scholarships in memory of another stalwart volunteer. Larry and Phillipa Morrish were the honorees at the Michael Behlen Community Service Awards Luncheon held on February 11th at the Bay Ridge Manor, 476 76th Street. The two were selected as the group’s first honorees, said Behlen’s widow, Shirley, because they had started the luncheon. The Morrishes began the event in 2001, Behlen recalled, passing it along, two years later, to a committee made up of Behlen’s family and associates, including herself; his son, Michael Behlen, Jr.; his daughter, Denise Fraumeni, and friends Marianne Teta, Tom Edwards, Ed Breslin and Peggy Pierce. “We are happy and humbled to have been selected,” noted Larry Morrish, who rapidly turned the conversation to the man after whom the awards were named, stressing, ‘We hope this continues for many years to come, and that his legacy continues, because we need people who perform unselfishly the way he did for the benefit of the community. “Michael’s whole effort was community service,” Morrish continued, “so, when he passed away, my wife suggested we do awards for students who perform community service. We don’t want to forget someone who made the enormous contributions that he made.” Besides honoring Behlen, the awards also encourage young people to follow in his footsteps, said Morrish, “Energizing the youth” to cut their teeth in community service. Money raised from the luncheon as well as private appeals are used to provide financial awards to entering freshmen and graduates of Xaverian High School. The Bay Ridge institution, where Behlen’s son teaches, was, “One of my husband’s favorite places,” recalled his widow. Over the years, $21,000 has been given away by the Michael Behlen Community Service Awards, said Behlen. This year, she noted, the committee is hoping to raise about $5,000 to divide among worthy graduates who write essays explaining what they have done for the neighborhood. Behlen, who died of cancer in 2000, was president of the 68th Precinct Community Council for 26 years, stepping down just a few months prior to his untimely death. He also served as a member and treasurer of Community Board 10, and was a founder of Bay Ridge Against Graffiti and the Greater Bay Ridge Cleanup. The luncheon was held on his birthday.