Avon UNICO Citizen of the Year Named

The Avon Chapter of UNICO is honored to announce that the 2015 Avon UNICO Citizen of the Year Award recipient is William (Bill) J. Newman, Past Commander of the Gildo T. Consolini VFW Post #3272.

UNICO will present its 18th annual award at Avon Day, Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 1:00 p.m., on the grounds between Pine Grove and Thompson Brook Schools (rain date Sept. 27). All are invited to attend and there is no admission charge.

UNICO National is the United States’ largest Italian-American service organization, and the name stands for Unity, Integrity, Charity and Opportunity. The award committee bestows the Citizen of the Year Award on an individual who has distinguished himself or herself with unselfish service to the community and who has helped make Avon a better place to live.

Said Greg Van Deusen, President of UNICO’s Avon Chapter, and Chairman of the Citizen of the Year Award Committee, “Bill’s generosity to the community, particularly through his work with the VFW, is a gift to us all.” Bob Galliette, a member of the UNICO Citizen of the Year Committee, said that Bill is “always available – whenever called upon.”

Mr. Newman was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1961 upon graduation from John Carroll University’s ROTC program. He went on active duty in January of 1962 and served as a Platoon Leader in Korea, an Intelligence Officer in Virginia, a Company Commander in Germany and a Staff Readiness Officer and Company Commander with the 8th Group in Vietnam. Bill then returned to the states and was discharged from active duty in September 1967.

In 1973, Bill joined the active reserves in Rochester, NY, where he served as the NCO Academy Director with the 1159th USAR School. He was promoted to Major in November 1977 and selected to serve in the Foreign Area Officer Program as a Northeast Asia Specialist with the U.S. Army Institute For Military Assistance in Fort Bragg, NC. Bill was discharged from the service in 1985, having earned meritorious and achievement decorations for both active and reserve service.

Bill initially joined the VFW in 1996 and subsequently joined the Avon VFW Post #3272. He has served the Post in many leadership roles, including Post Commander, during this timeframe. In 2005 Bill received the Post’s Outstanding Veteran of the Year Award.

His community service includes his role as chairman of the Post’s annual VFW Poppy Drive (until 2014) where donations increased from $1,000 to over $20,000 annually, benefiting many local and national veterans’ charities. He is the author of the monthly VFW Post #3272 newsletter, which he began in 2000 and which has won first place in the Department of Connecticut VFW Post publication awards for the last 8 years. His newsletter has provided a rich history of the activities of the Post and its members.

As membership chairman for the Post, Bill was responsible for significant growth in membership over the past decade and was recognized as Honor Commander by the Dept. of CT VFW in 2008 and 2009. He initiated the request and secured the support of the Connecticut State Legislature to name the Rt. 44 bridge over the Farmington River the “Corporal Gildo T. Consolini Memorial Bridge,” in honor of the first casualty from Avon during World War II. He also serves the Post as liaison with all five of Avon’s schools for Veteran’s Day activities, and works with Boy Scout Troop 274 on local projects. When invited, Bill works with the current Commander to make sure the VFW Color or Honor Guard is present at all events, including at veteran’s funerals.

Bill’s passion for service to our community showed in 2013 when he worked with the Avon Free Public Library to present events and provide an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. Events included an Open House, a POW-MIA Recognition Day Ceremony, a film presentation, and two separate exhibits in the Library’s Gallery and History Room exhibit area. He established a close relationship with the Connecticut Vietnamese community and invited several of them to speak about their struggles during the War during the exhibit. This summer he organized another exhibit at the Library to recognize the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II and the 70th Anniversary of Avon’s VFW Post, organizing talks and events surrounding that activity.

One vitally important aspect of both the exhibits is the result of Bill’s extraordinary effort to meticulously document the service history of over 175 members of the Post who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and other conflicts. This effort has taken hours and hours of research, family interviews, and data gathering. The information on each veteran is then archived in the History Room at the Avon Free Public Library for posterity. Bill will continue to work on these histories, as there have been over 600 members since the Post started in 1945.

Bill Newman was raised in Utica, NY, graduated from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1961, and earned an MBA from RIT in Rochester, NY in 1975. Bill was an Investment Officer for over 35 years, which included 8 years on Wall Street as a Managing Director and Investment Strategist specializing in Small Cap Funds. He joined the Phoenix Insurance Company in Hartford in 1994 as Chief Investment Strategist and the Head of Equities Investments. He and his wife, Janet, moved to Avon in 1996. Mr. Newman managed a Hedge Fund (Frontline Capital Management) in Avon from 1998 until his retirement in 2005.

When informed of the award, Bill said he was “very surprised and honored. I would like to dedicate this award to my comrades in the Avon VFW Post who have been my inspiration since I have joined the Post. It has been an honor and a privilege to be associated with these extraordinary veterans who have enriched my life over these past fifteen years. Their commitment to this community and to veterans is an enduring example of service and sacrifice.”

Members of the UNICO Avon Citizen of the Year Award Committee are Chairman Greg Van Deusen, Bob Galiette, Nora Howard, Caroline LaMonica and Terri Wilson. Avon’s Chapter of UNICO National is at Box 1442, Avon, Ct. 06001, and at www.avonunico.org. UNICO supports scholarships, and organizations such as the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, and the Wounded Warrior Project through local fundraising events.

For information about Avon Day please contact Laurie Carlson at LCARLSON@town.avon.ct.us or 860-673-6151.

Photo courtesy of www.avonct.gov.