Merrick chamber honors Life paper, Man and Woman of the Year, officers

The Merrick Chamber of Commerce’s annual installation dinner last Thursday was a time to honor both the organization’s incoming officers and Board of Directors and a longtime Merrick institution –– Merrick Life, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2013.

Special honors were bestowed on Linda Toscano and Paul Laursen, the Life’s publisher and editor, respectively. Cliff Richner, publisher of the new Merrick Herald Life, handed out the accolades.

Herald Community Newspapers acquired Merrick Life last summer, and for more than three months, Toscano and Laursen worked with Herald staff to produce a special section honoring Merrick Life and its staff, “75 Years of Covering Life in the Merricks,” which was distributed at the chamber dinner and is being distributed to all homes in the Merricks.

Laursen now serves as a contributing editor at the Merrick Herald Life, and a number of former Merrick Life staff are employed at Herald Community Newspapers.

The Chamber of Commerce also honored Adrienne Garfinkel, a retired elementary school teacher and Merrick community activist, as its Woman of the Year, and Randy Shotland, a lifelong Merokean and president of the Merrick Chamber, as its Man of the Year. (For full story, see “Chamber honors Woman, Man of the Year,” Merrick Herald Life, Jan. 9-16 issue.)

The 2014 chamber officers include: Randy Shotland, president; Ira Reiter and Margaret Biegelman, vice presidents; Ellen Firer, secretary; Douglas Mills, treasurer; and Margaret Mueller, immediate past president.

The Board of Directors comprises: Femy Aziz, Kathy Chuber, Armando D’Accordo, Richard Dasch, Erin Donohue, Timothy Feldis, Marian Fraker-Gutin, Arlene Gregory, Cindy Kessler, Susan Helsinger, Kevin Hofmann, Carmela Lage, Leo Levine, Julie Marchesella, Andrew Nachamie, Jay Pitti, Elaine Spiro, Barbara Traugot and Salvatore Vassallo.