The Bellmore Herald's Person of the Year, John Scalesi

When an accident or crime occurs in the Bellmores, John Scalesi can often be found on the scene. Scalesi, 54, a lifelong Bellmore resident and a Mepham High School graduate, has served his home community as a volunteer since he was young. He is active in the Bellmore Fire Department and the Kiwanis and Lions clubs, and he’s an honorary lifetime member of the North Bellmore Fire Department’s Company No. 2.

It is virtually impossible to count the number of local residents whom Scalesi has assisted in more than four decades as a volunteer. That’s why the Herald is proud to name him its 2010 Person of the Year.

Scalesi, who has long battled with stuttering, a form of speech disfluency, did not have an easy childhood, but he found comfort and support in the North Bellmore Fire Department. When he was about 10, John Skulnick, a former NBFD chief, brought him into the firehouse. Scalesi had always chased fire trucks on his bicycle, he recalled, and couldn’t have been more thrilled to be taken under a fireman’s wing. He attributes much of his ability to overcome his hardships in life to the North Bellmore F.D. “I spent most of my young life at the firehouse,” he said. “They were almost like a mom and dad to me.”

Scalesi became an explorer — what is now known as a junior firefighter — with the department. That was how Bob Podolski, a former chief, first came to know him. Podolski said that Scalesi has always sought to help others. “He helps everybody out,” including nearly everyone in his life,” he said. Podolski noted that Scalesi has always been there to care for his aging mother, Mildred, whom he lives with, and his daughter, Maria, a student at Nassau Community College.

Scalesi’s eagerness to help others led him to the armed forces after high school. During his Army training at Fort Dix in New Jersey, he was exposed to an explosion and received an honorable discharge. But the incident did not discourage him from finding a way to help others. He pursued a career as an emergency medical technician at Nassau University Medical Center, and later became an EMT for the Nassau County Sherriff’s Department.