| by Rick Pezzullo |
Three Sleepy Hollow residents will be honored on Saturday, March 7 during the first “Mayor for a Day” event initiated by Immaculate Conception Church.
Nicholas Bell, Brian Doyle and Armando “Chick” Galella will be recognized by Village Mayor Ken Wray and the Board of Trustees at 9:30 a.m. at Village Hall and treated to a celebratory lunch at the church’s Coda Hall at 11 a.m. with guests and parishioners.
Immaculate Conception Church Pastor Father Dany Abiakar came up with the concept as a way of bringing the parish and community closer together, and a committee of parish members was formed to select the honorees. Serving on the committee were Abiakar, Joseph Durso, Petronella Feaster, Lisa Gonzalez, Jennifer Green and Robert Seminara.
“We look forward to honoring Nick, Brian and Chick with all the pomp and circumstance our community can muster,” Green said. “We are excited that representatives from the Boy Scout’s Troop 22, Sleepy Hollow High School, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Sleepy Hollow Police Department will all be on hand to make our inaugural event the type of celebration our honorees deserve.”
Bell is a co-owner of Celtic Corner in Dobbs Ferry, and, along with Doyle, has been co-proprietor of JP Doyle’s Restaurant and Public House in Sleepy Hollow since 1999. Bell is well known for being involved with several charitable community causes, including The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Family YMCA at Tarrytown and The Foundation for the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns.
Doyle, a New York City firefighter in Washington Heights, has dedicated himself to improving downtown Sleepy Hollow and strengthening the community as a whole. He is past president of the Tarrytown Sleepy Hollow Chamber of Commerce and sits on its Board of Directors. He also serves on the Sleepy Hollow Police Advisory Committee, and is board director of the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Hudson Valley Chapter in Tarrytown.
Galella is a lifelong resident of North Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow. He joined the Army in 1940 and survived the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. He served as a village trustee and deputy mayor from 1969 to 1979 and as a fire commissioner for the village. For more information on the “Mayor for a Day” festivities, contact Father Abiakar at JPIIMC.NY@gmail.com or (914) 631-0446.
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