Two honored at Oceanside Chamber of Commerce cocktail reception

Brad Lemley, owner and instructor at the Art of Self Defense in Oceanside, watches his students build confidence through his classes. He said he remembers one girl in particular who benefited from learning karate.

“She was a hard worker, certainly worked harder than most,” Lemley recalled, keeping the student anonymous. “But every once in a while she would become overwhelmed with a difficulty before her, and she would excuse herself to go to the bathroom and cry.

“As the years went by, the moments that she needed to excuse herself became less and less, to the degree that I don’t remember the last time it happened,” he continued. “Which tells me she began to learn one of the greatest lessons that I have to teach: that you are enough.”

For the values he instills in Oceanside youth, and his service to the community, the Art of Self Defense was named the Ocean-side Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 Business of the Year. The chamber honored Lemley at its annual cocktail reception on Jan. 30, where he shared the anecdote about the former student.

Rachel Geraghty, of Ocean-side, thanked Lemley for the mentorship he also gave her late daughter, Kaitlin, when she attended his classes growing up. “When I watched him with her, it was a beautiful, positive male role model that she needed at the time,” Geraghty said during the ceremony at Kombert Caterers at Temple Avodah. “And when I watched her joy in doing karate and becoming positive and having more self-esteem and loving everything about herself, it was all due to this man.”

The chamber also named Brian Driscoll its Citizen of the Year. Driscoll is an NYPD detective and co-founder of Oceanside Community Warriors, a group that helps clean outdoor public places in the hamlet and teaches young people the importance of community service.

Driscoll accepted the award on behalf of all the members of the organization he founded, he told attendees. “Today we live in an era where it takes two or more incomes to make ends meet, to be able to live a middle-class American dream of homeownership in a beautiful town like Oceanside,” he began. “This makes it extremely difficult to seek and find volunteers for any worthy cause. Yet there are those that step forward and stand tall for their neighbors and their community.

“I’m humbled by those who do,” Driscoll added, “particularly the men, women and children of the Oceanside Community Warriors by passing a legacy of civic and moral responsibility and instilling a sense of community for generations to come.”

Driscoll is also part of the NYPD’s With Arms Wide Open, an organization that helps families with children who have disabilities. His son, Liam, has a rare syndrome called ATR-X, which prevents him from walking. Driscoll has raised more than $3,000 for the foundation.

Additionally, Driscoll is the founder of the Stop Drugs and Crime Facebook page, which educates members about the drug epidemic in the community. According to the chamber, he has assisted more than a dozen people in need of rehabilitation, regardless of whether they could afford it.

Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito spoke about Driscoll’s service at the event. “For somebody who really has a lot going on in his life, he never forgets Oceanside,” he said, and then told Driscoll, “I think everyone here would agree that Oceanside is a better place with you in it.”

D’Esposito, along with Nassau County Legislator Howard Kopel, then swore in six new chamber officers. In addition, Maria Heller, the chamber’s assistant treasurer, thanked past president Adam Kritzberg for serving for three years.

About 150 attendees mingled and enjoyed an open bar, buffet and music by the New Standard Trio band. Prizes were raffled off from more than 30 businesses that chamber members, contributing to the organization’s budget for the year.

“The chamber promotes and supports local business and sponsors events in the community,” incoming President Ed Scharfberg said. “Without the help of our members, members of the community like yourselves, and our other service organizations, this would not be possible.”