Young artists score Easter contest awards

The Archbishop John Hughes Council of the Knights of Columbus, on 13th Avenue and 86th Street, sponsored an Easter art contest in cooperation with The Tablet, the weekly Brooklyn Diocese newspaper covering Brooklyn and Queens parishes. The theme was “Christ has Risen.”

An awards ceremony was held on April10. The winners and honorable mentions were: First grade winner Noah McGuinness and honorable mention Grace Gallagher, St. Francis de Sales School; second grade winner Rayen Goodrich, Resurrection Ascension Catholic Academy; third grade winner Annalise Ruddy, Sacred Heart Catholic Academy and honorable mention Caleigh Vera, St. Patrick’s Catholic Academy; fourth grade winner Juliette Perry, St. Patrick’s Catholic Academy and honorable mention Katherine Ben-Jacob, St. Luke School; fifth grade winner Nelly Antoun, St. Peter Catholic Academy; sixth grade winner Vivian Adriana Vargas, Our Lady of Martyrs Catholic Academy and honorable mention Caelyn Naraine, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy.

Seventh grade winner Kailani Rosario, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy and honorable mention Noah Myles, St. Stanislaus-Kostka Catholic Academy; eighth grade winner Nadia Daniel, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy; ninth grade winner Madison Summerville, Christ the King H.S.; 11th grade winner Eleni Kougiemitros, St. Francis Prep H.S. and 12th grade winner Moses Ojo, Midwood H.S.

The program was emceed by Tablet Business Manager John Alexander and the awards were presented by Council Grand Knight Vincent DiBenedetto, Jr. assisted by former GK Joseph Sbarra. Council Chaplain Rev. Guy Sbordone gave the invocation. Others present were Tablet Editor Emeritus Ed Wilkinson and Digital Editor Joseph De La Cruz, and council official Steve Bilardi.

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On April 9, I had the opportunity, along with my daughter Teresa and her husband Jovanni, to attend a live performance of “Last Out: Elegy of a Green Beret,” about serving in the lost war in Afghanistan, at the St. George Theatre on Staten Island. I wound up being seated next to a retired CIA agent who had been assigned to Vietnam.

It was a fund-raiser for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. I even had a chance to talk briefly with Frank Siller, the founder, chairman/CEO, after the show. Siller recently announced his foundation has launched a national program to eradicate homelessness by providing housing and services to veterans who are homeless across America. This is on top of the outstanding work they already have been doing paying off mortgages for service members and first responders killed in the line of duty who had young kids.At the theater I met fellow Bay Ridgeite US Army Lt. Col. Dave Ryan and former Brooklynite and FDNY community coordinator Linda Thomsen. Later during the night, I got a surprising birthday greeting over WABC Radio by night host Frank Marano.