The ‘bedrock’ of Valley Stream: Debbi Gyulay

Debbi Gyulay keeps busy.

She works as a clerk at Valley Stream Central High School. On the first Tuesday of every month during the school year, she can be found chatting with her fellow Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce members at Sip This. On the third or fourth Wednesday of every month, Gyulay (pronounced GUY-lay) networks at local restaurants, building connections among the village’s business community. Some nights, she meets with other residents to plan the annual Community Fest. Each October, she judges children’s artistry with pumpkins at the Valley Stream Youth Council’s annual pumpkin-painting contest.

“There’s no more time to do anything else,” she says.

In recognition of her constant involvement in the community and her volunteer efforts, the Herald is proud to name Gyulay its 2018 Person of the Year.

Gyulay, 67, was born Debbi Rakow in 1951. She grew up in Valley Stream, graduated from Valley Stream Central High School in 1969, and earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in education at Hofstra University.

In 1999, after teaching kindergarten for 19 years, Gyulay started working as an office manager and executive assistant at her brother’s auto transmission shop in Valley Stream. It wasn’t long before she got involved in the Chamber of Commerce, and quickly climbed the organization’s ranks. She served as secretary for two years and president for eight, and is now executive vice president. “All I need to be now is the treasurer,” she joked, “and it would be a slam dunk.”

As president, Gyulay worked to enhance the chamber’s profile in the community, according to current President Dominick Minerva. During her tenure, he said, membership grew, and she was instrumental in managing the group’s finances. Barbara DeGrace, the assistant to the mayor, added that under Gyulay’s leadership, the chamber took part in the village’s annual Toys for Tots drive every year, and would always makes herself available for community events. “I don’t remember Debbi not being available for anything,” DeGrace said.

As vice president, Gyulay helps Minerva organize the group’s monthly luncheons and special events, like the village’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show and the chamber’s annual installation dinner in September. “She’s always reminding me of what I forget,” Minerva said, “and it’s a pleasure working with her.”

Gyulay’s work with the chamber spurred her desire to serve the community in other areas. When she was president, she began judging the pumpkin-painting contest, and that piqued her interest in becoming a member of the Youth Council, a community service group for seventh- through 12th-grade teenagers. Now she serves on the council’s Youth Collaboration Board’s Business Advisory Board, which offers students in all three Valley Stream high schools job opportunities, and with them the chance to learn about different career paths.

As chamber president, Gyulay wanted to expand its outreach to the community, so when she found out that David Sabatino, a local business owner, and James Giordano, the president of Envision Valley Stream, were brainstorming about organizing a festival to celebrate the village’s diversity, she jumped onboard. As a result of that collaboration, in 2011 Gyulay became a founding member of the Valley Stream Community Fest, and helped coordinate the event with businesses in the chamber.

Since then, the Community Fest has grown. In September, more than 10,000 residents gathered on Rockaway Avenue for the seventh annual festival. “It’s one of the things that I’m excited about,” Gyulay said. The event is one of Valley Stream’s largest.

To this day, she continues to serve on the festival committee, as a link between it and the chamber. Last week she was already immersed in planning next year’s event. “We couldn’t do the Community Fest without her,” said Marie McNair, the 2018 committee chairwoman. “She’s vital to the Community Fest.”

McNair described her colleague as “organized, reliable and responsible,” and added, “[She’s] a person who really is like the bedrock, who really believes in serving in the community and does it in a lot of ways.”

Gyulay stepped down as president of the chamber after four terms in 2015. At the time, she told the Herald that meeting the local business owners who invest their livelihoods in the community was made the work worthwhile.

She also said at the time that serving on the chamber board taught her how to speak in public and how to be a leader. “I knew I had the qualities to be a leader, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to put them into play, so it showed me that I could,” she said.

For all of her efforts, Gyulay received a leadership award in 2012 from the Peninsula Counseling Center during its A Tasteful Evening fundraiser. Mayor Ed Fare introduced her at the fundraiser, saying, “Debbi is one of the most hardworking, community-minded people that I know.”

In a statement to the Herald about Gyulay’s choice as the Person of the Year, Fare said that she was deserving of the title. “Debbi Gyulay is the epitome of ‘service above self,’” he said. “She gives so much time to our village, without looking for anything in return, other than personal satisfaction by serving her neighbors.”

He added that her community service was “vital” to Money magazine’s naming Valley Stream one of the best places to live last January. “Our residents and businesses make that happen,” he said. “And Debbi demonstrates that commitment every day.”