The Levittown School District held its fifth annual Community Recognition Night at the Levittown Memorial Education Center on March 15. This event was established to honor those members of the community who go above and beyond to make the Levittown area a better place.

The program for the evening's ceremony defines community as: "the people living in the same district, city, etc. under the same laws," and goes on to define service as: "helpful beneficial or friendly action or conduct; act of giving assistance or advantage to another."

"There are many members of our community who do so much for Levittown," the district notes in the program. "The majority of the community do not know their names or faces but do reap the benefits because of their efforts."

In order to acknowledge those who contribute so much to the Levittown community, the district sent letters inviting all community groups to submit the name of an individual in their organization who deserves such recognition. Each of the organizations who honored one or more of their members were on hand for this celebration and members of the various community groups sat with each other while they enjoyed a meal prepared by the Levittown Vocational Center's culinary students.

The Association of Levittown School Administrators (ALSA) selected Jackie Seeman as their honoree. Seeman is the director of pupil services, who will be retiring this year. She was recognized for her dedication to the children of the district who require support services.

Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) selected Monsignor George P. Graham as their honoree. Msgr. Graham is the pastor at St. Bernard's Church, who will be retiring this year.

The Levittown Chamber of Commerce selected Louis Pensa as their honoree. Pensa donates his services as DJ to all chamber of commerce events.

The Levittown Kiwanis Club honored Steve Haller, a past lieutenant governor for the South Central Division of Kiwanis. Haller recently coordinated a bowl-a-thon for the Levittown Kiwanis Club, to raise money for Kamp Kiwanis and other local community services.

As has been tradition at this annual event, the Levittown PTA Council honored all PTA volunteers. PTA Council President Lisa Vanderburg accepted the award on behalf of the PTA.

The Levittown School District selected Patricia Parsekian, a member of the board of education, as the designated honoree. Parsekian suffered a stroke this year and has decided not to run for a second term on the board.

Nick Sguigna was honored by the Levittown/Island Trees Youth Council. Sguigna is the president of Island Trees Baseball and has contributed significantly to the lives of those in the program.

Yours Ours Mine Community Center selected John Rotondo as their honoree. Rotondo is the president of Friends of YOM and has done much to help the organization raise funds that they might not ordinarily have been able to secure.

The Levittown Community Council selected Fred and Joanne Form as their designated honorees. The Forms are charter members of the Community Council and have been actively involved in that organization since its inception.

Other honorees were Susan Caputo, honored by the Girl Scouts; Kenneth C. Merkle, from Holy Innocents 3581; Charles D. Guidice, from the Levittown Fire Department; Carmen Greico and Deborah Nicolay, selected by Levittown United Teachers (LUT); Thomas Nigro, from the Long Island Chapter of the March of Dimes; Officer Brian McCarthy was honored by the 8th Precinct; and Ronald Thomson was honored by VFW Post 9592.

Each of the recipients has contributed greatly to his or her organization, and therefore contributed to the betterment of the Levittown community.