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John Re

Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund’s March 10 Spring Gala to Honor John Re and Pat Pollack

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The Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund invites the community to its 8th annual Spring Gala. This event will honor John Re with the Ed Habermann Award for volunteer service to the community and Pat Pollock with the Horace Greeley Award of Distinction for student support that goes above and beyond the role of a school nurse.

Great food and drinks will be served, and we’ll have an amazing jewelry raffle and select live auction prizes, as we celebrate our honorees.

Event Details:

DATE: Friday, March 10, 2017

TIME: 7 p.m.

PLACE: Mt. Kisco Country Club, 10 Taylor Road, Mt. Kisco

TICKETS: Available online at: www.hgsf.org.

RSVP: By February 27, 2017

John Re

John Re, Ed Habermann Award

John Re began coaching soccer for AYSO in 1997, and continued coaching for 14 years as his children (Samantha, Matthew and Jason) progressed through the AYSO and CYSC programs, often coaching more than one team, and winning three WYSL Division 1 championships. John has served as AYSO board member, division coordinator and Regional Commissioner.  In 2007, John was given AYSO’s Grishman Award, for his long dedication to youth soccer in Chappaqua. 

In January 2008, John was appointed to New Castle’s Recreation and Parks Commission, and then re-appointed for an additional term. In June 2015, he was honored by the Westchester Recreation and Parks Society, receiving their E. Mario Cribari Voluntary Service Award recognizing his years of service in New Castle.

In honor of his wife Dawn, who lost her brave battle with cancer in 2011, John (along with family and friends) founded Dawn’s Ray of Hope, a charitable organization supporting cancer patients.  Their signature event, the annual all-night softball tournament called Dusk to Dawn, has already raised nearly $50,000.  Look for them out on the Rec Field, or form a team and join them, on September 8-9, 2017.

Pat Pollock, Horace Greeley Award of Distinction

Having left nursing to be a stay-at-home mother when she moved to Chappaqua in 1988, Pat joined the PTA, where she combined volunteerism with her nursing background.  She was a member of the DAPC (Drug Abuse Prevention Council) and the Health Advisory Council, and she chaired Health and Safety, a committee that, among other activities, sponsored elementary school health fairs and the Great American Smoke Out. 

Pat Pollack with students

In 1997, Pat co-founded New Castle Cares, a group of community-based organizations that spearhead programs and activities that enhance the social and emotional health of children and families. She particularly enjoyed contributing to the successful publication and distribution of Parent-to-Parent Handbook, What Parents Need to Know About Alcohol and Other Drugs.

In 2003, Tom Cardellichio, a former Bell Principal and Director of Human Resources for CCSD, asked Pat to be a substitute nurse at Bell.  There, she found her passion working with middle school students, and in 2004, she became Bell’s full time nurse.  Pat spends countless hours supporting students as they navigate the volatile waters of adolescence. She is the go-to person for students and faculty at Bell, providing a safe place and sympathetic ear in times of need.

 

 About the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund:

Established in 1946 by Horace Greeley High School students, the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund exists to make up “the difference” between the actual costs of college and all other financial resources available to students and their families. Over the last seventy-one years, hundreds of Greeley students have been awarded need-based grants from the Fund.

Last year alone, we were able to award $223,000 in grants to 29 applicants, but we still had applicants with unmet need. Each year, we strive to meet more of the demonstrated need with your help. The Board hopes that in the future, no qualified Greeley graduate who needs financial assistance for college will be turned away.

Q&A with John Re about Chappaqua’s Dusk to Dawn

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Mike Wolfensohn (center wearing Dawn’s Team shirt) with John Re (kneeling)
Mike Wolfensohn (center wearing Dawn’s Team shirt) with John Re (kneeling)

By Grace Bennett

1) Describe the Dusk to Dawn mission. I know you and Mike Wolfensohn work so hard on this fundraiser each year.

John: Dusk to Dawn is the primary fund raising event for Dawn’s Ray of Hope, Inc. www.DawnsRayOfHope.org Dawn’s Ray of Hope is the charitable organization created in honor of Dawn Re to carry on her efforts to raise money to aid in the fight against cancer. With significant money already going to cancer research, we wanted the money we raised to go where a smaller amount of money can make a larger impact. We donate to local charities that provide support and assistance to cancer patients, and to cancer patients themselves who need financial assistance to pay medical bills. Our donations to both Support Connection in Yorktown and Gilda’s House in White Plains have enabled them to offer much needed programs to help not just the patients, but their families who also are going through a tough time. By paying for part of some local residents’ medical bills, we have been able to make an immediate impact on those families as well as being able to alleviate some their financial burdens so they can focus on recovery and family.

The Dusk to Dawn event is an all-night co-ed softball tournament/marathon which combines Dawn’s two favorite fund raising activities–the ACS’s Relay for Life and the LLS’s Snowball Softball Tournament. Teams make a $750 donation to enter the tournament and are assigned a game slot to compete against “Dawn’s Team.” (Yes, Dawn’s Team plays each game…from dusk (about 5:30 p.m.) on Friday night, ‘til dawn (or whenever the last game ends–usually around 7or 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.) And since teams are of varying abilities (all skill levels are welcome!), we play with wood bats and a 16” Chicago style softball which helps to balance the game. We also have a barbecue going, with hamburgers and hotdogs, refreshments (non-alcoholic) and snacks available all night for just a nominal charge.

2) What are your goals each year?

John: Our primary goal is to raise as much money as possible by bringing in as many teams as we can to play. We have been lucky enough to have a full schedule with 10 teams participating in each of the last few years; but (by shifting the schedule and adjusting the game slots) we do have the ability to make room for more.

We also want to have fun. Dawn was all about fun and I can’t think of having an event in her memory and not have fun be an integral part of the formula.

Last (and certainly not least), we also hope to make this a community event, where people who are not on (or affiliated with) teams will come, watch, hang out, enjoy the barbeque, and (of course) make a donation. Quite honestly, we’re trying to figure out how to make that last part happen.

3) Any highlights from this year you want to share?

John: Truthfully, the night is full of memories and highlights. The game against the “Chappaqua Moms” is always a favorite because it is fun year-after-year, and everyone on both teams plays with the right attitude. This year’s Chappaqua Moms game was especially fun for me since Mike and I were honorary CMs and got to play on the team!

Playing alongside our kids and their/our friends never gets old, providing a lot of smiles and proud papa moments. One highlight this year was playing against a group from the HGHS Class of 2012. They played in our first tournament in September 2011 as Greeley Seniors, and returned this year as young adults to support us.

We also appreciated the HGHS Women’s Soccer Team coming to grab dinner after their game on Friday night. The young ladies on the soccer team have played in prior Dusk to Dawn tournaments, but were unable to do so this year as they had a game of their own.

But each game has great moments. Whether we’re playing against the team from CM, the Chappaqua Fire Department, Quaker Hill Tavern, the Support Connection in Yorktown, or the New Castle Adult Softball League (i.e., the Scramblers, Dirty Ol’ Dawgs, 8 Men Out, Raptors, Without a Prayer–to name a few)), there’s always something we remember and laugh about!

4) What’s your hope for the future?

John: We’d love to see Dusk to Dawn continue as a community event here in Town for many years to come, with more and more people becoming aware of us and our mission, and coming to support the players and the organization. We know that there are many worthy charities out there to which a lot of folks in our Town give a lot of their time. But by the same token, we think our event is easy to support. What better way is there to support a charity than playing softball and eating at a barbecue with your friends? And after that, who knows? Maybe our event can serve as a model that could be run simultaneously in different communities in Westchester.