April 6, 2011
Honoring Thomas Secunda; Hudson Valley Bank; Entergy; Miracle League of Westchester
The Friends of Westchester County Parks, Inc. will hold its 2011 Best Friends Awards Reception on Wednesday, April 13, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, NY. The event, “An Evening with Friends,” will honor people and businesses who have been great supporters of Friends and the County Parks Department.
The celebration kicks off with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at 5:30 p.m.; the award ceremony at 7:15 p.m.; coffee, dessert, music and the raffle at 8 p.m.
This year’s honorees are:
- Thomas F. Secunda, who will receive the Best Friend award. Secunda, of Croton-on-Hudson is a founding partner and Global Head of Financial Products and Services with Bloomberg. He has been a part of Friends since its 2003 re-organization. His volunteer work as a member of Friends’ Board of Trustees has been integral in the organization’s success.
- Best Business Friend Hudson Valley Bank has been a longtime supporter of Friends. Friends has been the recipient of a number of grants from the Bank’s foundation to help maintain and protect county parks. For many years, a Bank officer has served on the Friends’ Board of Trustees.
- Best Green Friend Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production and distribution. Entergy’s recent donation of 17 trees helped Friends and County Parks take a major step forward in a reforestation project at Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla. Entergy is also represented on the Board of Trustees of Friends.
- The Miracle League of Westchester will receive the Best Volunteer Friends Award. The league provides volunteers whose work enables hundreds of children and adults with physical and developmental disabilities to play baseball on the county’s specially designed Miracle Field at Ridge Road Park in Hartsdale.
Co-chairs of the Best Friends Award Reception are Christopher Cawley of Sleepy Hollow and Linda Carrington of Mount Kisco. Both are members of the Friends board of trustees.
Event tickets are $250 per person, or sponsor packages can be purchased – a bronze package for $4,000, silver package for $5,000, gold package for $7,500 or event sponsor package for $25,000. Sponsor package purchases include 10 event tickets, 10 raffle tickets and a full page ad in the awards reception journal.
The event includes a raffle for prizes like a round-trip to Florida on JetBlue and a golf foursome at Trump International; a stay at the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains with spa treatment and tickets to the Wine and Food Festival; tickets to Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Giants and Rangers games plus a flat-screen TV; golf and food at each of the six Westchester County-owned golf courses; and a digital camera from Fuji with a selection of Friends logo wearables for all seasons.
For more than 30 years, the Friends of Westchester County Parks has continued its tradition of helping to bridge the budget gap, raising thousands of dollars to buy equipment, fund children’s programs, provide amenities and support the Westchester County Parks system.
For information and tickets, go to www.friendsofwestchesterparks.com or call Friends at (914) 864-7048.