At the annual awards dinner held Wednesday 23-Sep at the Fiesta in Wood-Ridge, the Rutherford Little League honored its Volunteers of the Year for 2009.
Nick Russo is the American League honoree. He has come to the fore over the last few seasons, mainly after his first son finished playing in the League. In recent years, he’s taken charge of the Minor League as well as our fall program, and this year he started managing a Major League team as well.
Jim McCarthy received the National League honor. He started managing a Major team when his oldest son turned 9. Not only is he still there, with three kids remaining in the League, but he's also become the League’s “legal eagle”, helping guide us through some thorny situations both internally and in negotiation with the Borough of Rutherford.
Also honored were the League’s playoff and tournament teams, along with the 47 players who graduated from the program in 2009.
The Rutherford Little League announced its Volunteers of the Year at its 24th annual awards dinner, Tuesday 16-Sep at The Fiesta in Wood-Ridge.
Corey Gallo was instrumental in establishing the capital campaign which is enabling the League to make major improvements to its facilities by the start of the 2009 season. Some people doubted that he could do it, but he proved them wrong, and work at the field will start shortly.
Bob Simone, a repeat award winner, got involved in the League when his son was playing, and he has stuck around for another 11 seasons, until after that son was out of college. He ran the fall program for a good number of years, and he led several tournament teams as well. In 2007, he made personal sacrifices to stay at the helm of a club that went to the state finals in Clayton, Gloucester Co.
Also acknowledged at the dinner were members of playoff and tournament teams, as well as the 34 players who completed their 12-year-old seasons and graduated from the program.
The Rutherford Little League honored its Volunteers of the Year at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday 19-Sep.
Dennis Van Dyk received the American League award. He was already making significant contributions before he was elected to the board of directors for 2006. He’s a go-to guy if we ever had one, the sort of person you ask for help and he’ll give it if at all possible. This year’s contributions included, among other things, painting the dugouts practically by himself.
Dan Mariano was honored from the National League. One of our most faithful members, he has maintained his involvement since 1974 despite some other significant obligations. He helped design the league’s safety certification course, and he continues to teach it every season.
Also recognized at the event were the league’s playoff and tournament teams, as well as the 41 players who graduated from the program upon completing their 12-year-old seasons.
The Rutherford Little League honored its 2005 Volunteers of the Year at its annual awards brunch Sunday 25-Sep.
Margaret Scott was honored as the National League Volunteer of the Year. She stepped up to take over as chair of the Auxiliary in the weeks leading up to the season, filling a void in the league structure.
Jim Fecanin was honored from the American League for the second time, for his tireless work in maintaining the Major League playing field as the 2005 section tournament approached.
Prior to the announcement of this year’s honorees, the League dedicated the new Joe Principe Memorial Award plaque. Principe, a dedicated league volunteer through the 1990s, died earlier in the month. His wife Kathy and son Mike were present for the dedication.
The Rutherford Little League honored its playoff and tournament teams, its graduating players, and its Volunteers of the Year for 2004 at its closing ceremony on Sunday 19-Sep.
Jeff Cassella was named the American League Volunteer of the Year. Cassella has served the League for thirty seasons as a manager, coach, secretary, player agent, and vice president. In addition, he has prepared the game and practice schedules for the Major League since the 1980s.
Sharon McCallum received the National League honor. McCallum has served on the board of directors as secretary and vice president. She has also been responsible for securing practice fields, as well as recruiting workers for the concession stand for playoff and tournament play.
At its closing awards ceremony Sunday 21-Sep, the League announced its Volunteers of the Year for 2003.
Joe Zurla received the American League honor. Despite being busy with a retail business on the busiest Little League day of the week, he has found time to serve the League in various capacities, including equipment manager and treasurer.
The National League award went to Walt Caufield. With his children out of the League now, he still has found time to serve on the board of directors and assist in such mundane tasks as the tournament ground crew.
The Rutherford Little League announced its Volunteers and Good Sports of the Year at its awards ceremony Sunday 16-Sep.
Donna Kolich received the American League honor. Over the last four years, she has accepted two of the most thankless jobs in the League, equipment manager and treasurer, with style and a smile.
Tom McCallum is the National League honoree for becoming Mr. Fix-It this season, handling odd jobs from repairing fences to weeding out the Memorial Garden behind the first-base bleachers to cleaning refrigerators.
Each award winner received a certificate. Awards were also presented to championship, playoff and tournament teams, the Good Sports of the Year, and graduating 12-year-olds.
The Rutherford Little League presented awards to its 2000 Volunteers of the Year at the closing awards ceremony 17-Sep.
Tom Bloomer received the American League award. This season, besides managing a Major League team, he also took over as equipment manager, organizing the ugly details of ordering uniforms, collecting Minor League pants, and all the rest.
Bob Simone earned the National League award. He did a bang-up job not only organizing his own Major League team and the Minor League, but taking over the League's fall program after a one-year hiatus.
The Rutherford Little League presented awards to its 1999 Volunteers of the Year at the closing awards ceremony 1-Oct.
Steve Mazzaro received the American League award. He stepped up out of nowhere and took on the immense responsibilities of building and field maintenance. The work he did throughout the year saved many a game that would have been lost to the weather otherwise.
Ronnie Cahill and Sue Giordano shared the National League award. The co-leaders of the Auxiliary took time out and made the concession stand run smoothly. It's a thankless job, and it's enough work for two, so the League broke new ground in 1999 and honored both.
The Rutherford Little League presented awards to its 1998 Volunteers of the Year at the closing awards ceremony 11-Sep.
Joe Zurla received the American League award. In his years in the league, he has had responsibilities on all three levels of play -- Major, Minor, and Tee Ball -- yet has found time to help out with numerous league projects as well.
Phil Giordano is the National League honoree. Despite having other important responsibilities in the League -- manager of a Major team, member of the Board -- he has donated more than his share of time to the likes of printing projects and organizing fund raisers, both independently and with the Auxiliary.
At its 1997 awards dinner 12-Sep, the Rutherford Little League honored its Volunteers of the Year, George Fecanin and Jack Dunn.
Fecanin received the American League honor for an exceptional year in which he served as liaison to the Auxiliary, worked as a co-chair of the equipment committee, and still found time to manage an 8-year-old tournament team.
Dunn picked up the National League award for stepping into the vacant position of groundskeeper, helping to save numerous games on the Major League field from being rained out over the course of the year.
Little League Baseball began the Volunteer of the Year program in 1989.