The Chamber of Commerce of the Massapequas held its annual Awards Luncheon at Katie Daly's restaurant on Oct 25 and honored several of its members with Citizen of the Year Awards.

Receiving citations from Congressman Peter King's representative Jack Kilbride for their outstanding service to the Massapequa community were Massapequa Postmaster Jerry Fiorenza and Detective Sergeant Denis Monette. Fiorenza was ill and unable to attend the luncheon and his wife Carol and daughter Jessica graciously accepted the award for him.

Several other members of the Chamber were honored by members of the Coast Guard for a project they undertook to aid a local Coast Guard station following the Sept. 11 attacks. These merchants, including David Wong from David's China Garden and Laura and Dr. Chris Schmidt from Schmidt Chiropractic, put together bags of toiletry items such as shaving cream, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwash to give to the Coast Guard.

Chief Mark Davenport of the Jones Beach Coast Guard Station expressed his deep appreciation for this gesture. "Young people just coming out of high school join the Coast Guard, and the next thing they know, they're going to war, or going down to Ground Zero. It's not the items in the bags [that are important]. It's just a terrific gesture and it means a lot to these 19-year-old kids."

Dr. Schmidt and his wife Laura were also honored with the Businessperson of the Year Award for their work in running a Health Fair earlier this year.