The Hicksville Chamber of Commerce welcomed its new president, Ella Marie Columbo, during its annual installation dinner held earlier this week.

Columbo has been serving as the organization's vice-president for the past three years and is the founder of Ella Marie School of Dance.

"I would like to have our community know that the chamber of commerce is working for and with them," said Columbo in an interview following the dinner. "I would like to do more in the way of community events and I would like to have the members of the chamber aware of what we are trying to do so they would...be more involved with the chamber so we could make the events that we have bigger and better."

Columbo replaces outgoing president, Patricia Conway, under whose tenure the chamber took a prominent role in the community.

Since joining the chamber in 1988, Conway created the chamber's first newsletter, the Compendium, in 1993 and played a major role in the staging of the annual Business Expo at Broadway Mall. Conway was elected president in 1996, and during her term, she spearheaded an intiative to revitalize the Hicksville downtown.

It was she who lobbied Marc Herbst in 1996, on behalf of the chamber, for a grant to do a study of the Hicksville downtown and to formulate a vision of an improved downtown. The study incorporated the input of area residents, business owners and government officials. She claims the relationship that was ultimately forged between these three groups is the most lasting achievement of her term as president, because it is from this relationship that many other community projects were spurred to life.

"Of all the achievements realized by this chamber during my term, I am most proud of the partnership we've created between businesses, residents, and government that now work together 'For A Better Community.' I truly hope that will be my legacy."

According to Conway, she will stay involved with the chamber's community work. She will chair the chamber's Community Development Committee which will continue to solicit more grant money, as well as to foster the partnership between the business sector, residential community, and government.

Columbo, who first opened her dance studio on Broadway 30 years ago, remembers what Hicksville used to be like and wants to continue the chamber's role as a catalyst in the community. She, like Conway, feels the community fell by the wayside for many years but has experienced a turnaround in recent years.

"Hicksville is once again becoming a lovely town," said Columbo. "I want to continue that. I want to keep the town as it is now, if not make it better."

Sam Maruca will serve as the chamber's vice president, Barry Maltese the secretary and Eric Slavsky the treasurer. The members of the board of directors are (expire 2000) Sandy Herman, Effie Krogmann Urschel, Ron Lenneberg, Celeste Watman, Patrick Crowe; (expire 2001) Don LeCompte, Edward Restivo, Judith K. Lombardi, Beth Dalton Costello, Patricia M. Conway; (expire 2002) Luz Rosenthal, Bill Zounek, Marcos Ramirez, Billie Hyman and Nancy Gilbert.

The chamber's Small Business Person of the Year Award was presented to Frank Milevoi of La Gondola Restaurant, and Linda Bennet, a co-founder of the RICH program and a member of the NorthWest Civic Association, was presented with the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce's 1999 Citizen of the Year award.

Other awards were presented to several members of the business community for their contributions throughout the year. They are Billy Hyman, George Emmel, Ella Columbo, Barry Maltese, Luz Rosenthal, Marc Ramirez, Sandy Herman, Tim Conway, Eric Slavsky, and Michael Larkin.