Hispanic Of The Year Award Announced In West Haven

Written by Michael P. Walsh

WEST HAVEN, CT — Elsie Encarnacion, a longtime downtown business owner, will receive the city’s Hispanic American of the Year award at the fourth annual Hispanic Heritage Celebration, Mayor Nancy R. Rossi announced.

Rossi and the West Haven Hispanic Heritage Committee will fete Encarnacion, whose grandparents hailed from Puerto Rico, at noon Friday at City Hall, 355 Main St.

The committee bestows the award annually on a Hispanic resident who epitomizes service in the city’s thriving Hispanic American community.

“I wasn’t expecting this (award) at all, and I’m very grateful,” said Encarnacion, a State Farm agent who has owned Encarnacion Insurance & Financial Services Inc. for 14 years at 487A Campbell Ave., opposite City Hall across from the Green.

Encarnacion, 50, will honor her Puerto Rican ancestry with dozens of friends and loved ones, along with an array of dignitaries and descendants of folks from Puerto Rico and Latin America.

Committee members and West Haven officials led by Rossi will escort Encarnacion to the steps of City Hall for her special recognition. A Latin-flavored lunch will follow.

West Haven’s diversity is its strength, Rossi said, and Encarnacion is a testament to the American dream.

“Elsie Encarnacion is an outstanding business professional, and it is a privilege to recognize her as our Hispanic American of the Year,” Rossi said. “She is both a local business owner and an active member of our community who is known for being charitable and always willing to volunteer.”

In observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs through Oct. 15, West Haven recognizes the important legacy of Hispanic Americans and the inspiring contributions they have made to the culture and history of the United States.

Hispanics have had a profound and positive influence on the civic and cultural life of America through their strong commitment to faith and family, hard work and public service. They have enhanced and shaped the national character with centuries-old traditions that reflect the multiethnic and multicultural customs of their community.

Hispanic Heritage Month, which traces its roots to 1968, begins each year on Sept. 15, the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico and Chile also celebrate their independence days during that period.

The term Hispanic refers to Puerto Rican, South American or Central American, and other Spanish cultures or origins regardless of race. On the 2020 census form, people of Spanish, Hispanic or Latino origins could identify themselves as Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or “another Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin.”

Rossi said Encarnacion personifies the noble qualities of serving her vibrant community and carrying on the proud traditions of Puerto Rico.

Rossi praised the public-spirited Encarnacion, whom she called a woman of faith and service, for her devotion to the city and its robust Hispanic American community.

Encarnacion, a member of Vertical Church, is widely known for her volunteerism at the Meloy Road church, where she helped deliver meals to needy residents during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

At the City Hall event, Rossi will present her with a Puerto Rican flag and a mayoral citation for her civic-minded good works.

Encarnacion will also receive an embroidered “Hispanic American of the Year” jacket from Rossi and a General Assembly citation from Rep. Treneé McGee, D-West Haven, on behalf of the city’s delegation.

The cultural event will include remarks by Rossi and her executive assistant, Louis P. Esposito Jr., the master of ceremonies. It will also include the singings of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Puerto Rican national anthem, “La Borinqueña.”

The former Elsie Velasquez was born and raised in Christiansted, the largest town on St. Croix of the Virgin Islands, where she graduated from St. Croix Central High School in 1990.

Five years later, she received a bachelor’s degree in business from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, where she met her husband, Emilio Encarnacion.

After the couple moved to West Haven in 1996, she received a master’s degree in business management from Albertus Magnus College.

She and her husband of 26 years live with their Chihuahuas, Chilly and Princess, on Sanford Street in Allingtown.