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AWARDS GALA
NJRHA Gala Honors the Industry’s Best: Award Recipients’ Speeches Impress Crowd
T
he New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association held its 2015 Annual Awards Gala at the Stone House in Stirling Ridge on Monday, November 30th to honor this year’s industry’s best. The formal event was touching and emotional with many of the award recipients’ speeches reflecting on their rocky career starts as dishwashers or as young, rebellious kids born into the business. All attributed their success to the support and patience of their families and friends.
The evening’s award recipients included, Steve “Biddy” Bidgood as Restaurateur of the Year; Donald Horn as Deborah Roy-Dowdell Lifetime Achievement Award; Michael Cetrulo and Joanne Szibdat as Gold Plate Winners; and George Kyrtatas as the Hospitality Award. In front of 300 guests, each recipient humbly and proudly accepted their honor to many loud standing ovations. “It was a heartfelt night with many people tearing up as our award winners emotionally discussed their rise to success, the challenges they
faced after Hurricane Sandy or the fact they lost many friends on 9/11,” said Marilou Halvorsen, president of the NJRHA, “On the flipside it was so uplifting to see how happy they were to get recognition for all their hard work and sacrifice of time away from their families. Not to mention many of our award recipients, especially Steve Bidgood, give back generously to their communities.” One pinnacle of the evening was a presentation by Eric Hines, Mayor of Holmdel who read a proclamation claiming “November 30th to
(L to R) NJRHA Award Winners: George Kyrtatas, Joanne Szibdat, Donald Horn, Steve “Biddy” Bidgood, and Michael Cetrulo. 108 • December 2015 • Total Food Service • www.total food.com
be Steve Bidgood Day,” because of the near $1M he has raised for local charities over the years. The room stood to a roaring applause as he was handed the framed document. Another memorable incident was when Donald Horn reminisced about his long and illustrious career that built Mayfair Farms into the landmark it is today, yet somewhere along the way he managed to have 10 children with his long time wife. “And remember, I worked at night,” he said to a room full of laughter.
Marilou Halvorsen, president of the NJRHA