Submitted by Cranford VFW Post 335
Cranford Veterans of Foreign Wars will present Community Awards
April 12th at 7:30 pm
Post located at 479 South Ave. East in Cranford.
All are welcomed to attend this free event. The following award recipients as well as our Patriot Pen VFW Essay winners and Scout of the Year will be recognized.
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OF THE YEAR: CAPTAIN GUY PATTERSON
This award is based on the core values that Captain Patterson brings to Cranford and community policing. Many of these Values are key values that the Veteran of Foreign Wars were founded upon. “It is always great to recognize a member of our community who truly believes in what they do in making Cranford a GREAT place to live” Post Commander Jay Boxwell commented.
FIREFIGHTER OF THE YEAR: LIEUTENANT RON MAROTTA
Lt Marotta has been motivated to serve his community from a very young age. He comes from a family that was extremely involved in community service. He aspires to make the Township of Cranford the best place to live in the world! He is also motivated to ensure the young members of our fire department are trained to the highest level. He does this to ensure the department members have the knowledge to be successful and safe firefighters.
EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR: PAUL MALONEY
From a VFW perspective, Mr. Maloney’s marvelous teaching attributes have been exposed during our annual Veterans Breakfast. For more than two decades, Mr. Maloney has brought a talented bevy of students before the 80 or more veterans in attendance at this annual event. At the breakfast each student reads a short speech on a veteran related topic that was assigned by Mr. Maloney. The topics are all relevant and give the students the opportunity to reflect on a personal level, on what and who veterans are and what they mean to our country. Over the years the students have become the overwhelming highlight of the morning event. They invariably get the longest standing ovation of all our speakers, from our crowd of veterans. It is no doubt they deserve such praise. However the real honor, the real praise belongs to the one who brought them to the dais. The students are filled with the confidence, knowledge and understanding and of what veterans and patriotism are and they show the abilities to express these issues successfully. Past Post Commander Jim D’Arcy commented “It is my great honor to see Mr. Paul Maloney nominated as the Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year. His qualifications, I believe, are irreproachable.”
