Press Release:

Bergen County American Legion will hold it's 91st Convention and Awards on Saturday May 20th at Rochelle Park American Legion Post 170. The Convention with installation of new officers for 2017-2019 will start at 9 AM and the Awards Ceremony will start at 11:30.

The officers (elected at the April 15th meeting) to be installed are:

BCAL Officers 2017-2019
Office Name (Post#)
Commander Bob Salvini (170)
DEC Mike Carroll (139)
Vice Commander Ray Stitz (170)
Vice Commander Andrew Meehan (369)
Vice Commander Maenard Burgess (58)
Vice Commander Dan Laviola (139)
Finance Officer  Mario Lembo (369)
Chaplain George Tomko (206)
 Sr. Vice Commander Maenard Burgess (58)
Adjutant Bob Salvini (170)
Organization Officer John Santaella (310)
Sgt-at-Arms Sophia Dmoch (310)
Service Officer Victor Ruggiero (310)
Assistant SO Greg Washington (58)
Assistant SO Darren Bavaro (139)
Judge Advocate Victor Ruggiero (310)
Assistant Judge Advocate Sophia Dmoch (310)
Trustee Frank Jiosi Sr. (139)
PDC/Trustee Frank M  Calandrillo Jr. (531)
Trustee Mike Burhart (139)

 
The list of awardees to be presented are:

Bergen County Legionnaire of the Year Excellence Award
Presented to: Victor Ruggiero, John H Gertz, Little Ferry Post 310
 
Bergen County Legionnaire of the Year Outstanding Commendation Award
Presented to: John Cooley, Camp Merit Post 21 of Cresskill
 
Bergen County Legionnaire of the Year Outstanding Commendation Award
Presented to: Mike Gela, General Leonard Wood Hillsdale Post 162
 
Legion Award of Excellence Educator
Presented to: Julie Maiorino, Nicole Castaldo and Eric Gugick, Sergeant Clendenon Newell Leonia Post 1
 
Legion Outstanding Commendation Award Educator
Presented to: Ann Marie Ryan, Camp Merit Post 21 of Cresskill, Stacey A Telep, Joseph M Lane Lodi Post 136 and Casey Cummings, Oakland Post 369
 
Legion Award of Excellence Police Officer
Presented to: Lt. Chris Boel, Officer Dominic Verdi and Officer Angelo Ratto, John H Gertz, Little Ferry Post 310
 
Legion Outstanding Commendation Award Police Officer
Presented to: Anthony Bua II, Joseph M Lane Lodi Post 136 & Captain Joseph Trumbetti, Camp Merit Post 21 of Cresskill
 
Legion Award of Excellence Firefighter Team
Presented to: Captain Robert Fuchs , FF Rob Cordasco , FF Dan O'Shea , FF Kyle O'Keefe , Ex. Chief Frank Smith , FF Robert Aitken and FF Marty Loesner , of the Little Ferry Fire Department, John H Gertz, Little Ferry Post 310
 
Legion Award of Excellence Firefighter Team
Presented to: FF Tom Burniston and FF Dennis Kronyak Jr. of the Wood Ridge Fire Department,  John H Gertz, Little Ferry Post 310
 
Legion Award of Excellence Legion Programs (Flag Retirement)
Presented to: Larry Rauch, Director Bergen County Fire Academy, BCAL
 
Legion Award of Excellence Newspaper
Presented to: The Our Town, Jim and Camille Horner, Editors &  The Gazette, Fritz Retage, Editors
 
Legion Award of Excellence Newspaper Article
Presented to Todd South, The Record
 
Gene Howell/Don Holmes Scholarship
Awarded to: Michael A Shappell,   CPL. Jedh C Barker Memorial Post 153 Park Ridge, Alex DeRosa, General Leonard Wood Hillsdale Post 162 , Lauren Abrams and Bruce Amundson, Rochelle Park Post 170 , Dylan Bischoff. Norwood Post 272 and Madeline England, Joseph A Silva Post 366 Northvale
 
Legion Award of Excellence Post 106 Poster Contest
Presented to Hani Jawabrah, Amanda DeJulia, Sean O'Malley and Tejasi Thool, Capt. James B Scarr Post 106 Hasbrouck Heights
 
Legion Award of Excellence Safety Essay Contest
Presented to: Kailey Levinson, CPL. Jedh C Barker Memorial Post 153 Park Ridge
 
 
Legion Outstanding Commendation Award Safety Essay Contest
Presented to: Cindy Rosa & Kayla Onofre, Capt. Harry B Doremus Hackensack Post 55, Julian Torres, John H Gertz, Little Ferry Post 310
 
 
Legion Award of Excellence Coloring Contest
Presented to: Luigi Mercado, Alexander P Stover Post 37 of North Arlington
 
Legion Outstanding Commendation Award Coloring Contest
Presented to: Dea Bauta & Nonoka Kobayashi, Sergeant Clendenon Newell Post 1, Dana Ruggiero, Nina Adele Simonetta & Sophie Zotos, Camp Merit Post 21 of Cresskill, Shirley Amendano, Nicholas Brown, Larissa Itondo, Brittany Valencia & Fiona Yang, Capt. Harry B Doremus Hackensack Post 55, Aleyah Garcia Millyon, Cliffside Park Post 126, Gavin Miele, Glen Rock Post 145, Hannah Foley & Meaghan Keating, CPL. Jedh C Barker Memorial Post 153 Park Ridge, Ella Guzman, Norwood Post 272, Voueria Perez, & Erisa Tarnowski, John H. Gertz Little Ferry Post 310, Mikayla Amoruso, Alexa Carlson & Julia Wdowiak, American Legion Post 369 of Oakland, Isabella Cappello, & Jasmine Lovett, Jamros-Baker-Schneider Post 415 of Saddle Brook  and Rahul Zaveri, Murray-Hodge Post 453 Rutherford

For God and Country,
"We continue to serve"
Bob Salvini, Commander