The Marine Park Alliance (MPA) celebrated Women’s History Month at the Carmine Carro Community Center, 3000 Fillmore Avenue, on Saturday, March 29th, to honor women who have impacted their lives.
In dedication to the memory of RoseMarie Carro, 4th vice president of the Marine Park Civic Association and wife of the late Carmine Carro, the 13th annual ceremony’s theme was “Women Educating and Inspiring Generations,” which honored and rewarded women who have dedicated their lives to education, mentorship and leadership.
Kristy Di Cario began the event with the history of Women’s History Month, explaining how German communist Clara Zetkin organized an International Women’s Day on March 19, 1911, known initially as International Working Women’s Day, and how it eventually became known as Women’s History Month.
Di Cario showed a timeline of how important the 1980s were to Women’s History Month. In February 1980, President Carter was the first to issue a presidential proclamation to declare the week of March 8th as National Women’s History Week. The following year, Congress passed a law that “authorized and requested the president to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982, as ‘Women’s History Week’ and in 1987, passed Public Law 100-9 that finally designated March as ‘Women’s History Month.’”
Since 1995, starting with President Clinton, every president has designated March as Women’s History Month.
Di Cario also showed how important women are in the educational field, showing statistics that 77% of teachers are women, as well as vital women who were influential teachers such as Maria Montessori, an Italian educator who developed the Montessori method in which children are allowed to learn at their own pace in their own way. Also, Emma Willard, who spurred the establishment of high schools for girls, women’s colleges and coeducational universities, including the Troy Female Seminary, in 1821.
The MPA recognized those nominated by the local community and awarded them the Women’s History Month Honoree plaque for their inspiring dedication to education, mentorship and leadership. Those who were honored were nominated in some educational capacity and felt that they had inspired and positively impacted their students.
Honorees include Joann Rivezzo, a volunteer member of MPA who was a vital yoga instructor, especially during the pandemic; Bonnie McGuire, an environmental educator and the director of NYC Urban Park Rangers; Yvette Sladky, a Girl Scout troop leader; and Anna Annina and Linda Wilken, retired and current teachers, respectively.
“I love my community, I love these young women, it’s a great time to be a woman,” said Sladky. “We have empowerment. We don’t do this to be recognized; we do it because it’s what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Doreen Garson, a cornerstone of Gerritsen Beach, who made a name for herself in local businesses and for her contribution to emergency management and community relations, such as being the 16th and first female chief of the Gerritsen Beach Fire Department, was the recipient of the MPA RoseMarie Carro Woman of the Year Award.
“I love this event every year. It’s just special and gets bigger every year and because it’s in honor of my mom [RoseMarie], it’s my heart,” MPA Chairperson Maria Carro D’Alessandro said. “She was so dedicated to the community and since my father [Carmine Carro] was such a big person in this community, they don’t realize that she did as much, and I felt that she needed to be brought out and know what she did, and she did it with love for the community.”
