The following news release was submitted by The Teaneck - Englewood & Vicinity Club of The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs:

The Teaneck - Englewood & Vicinity Club of The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. (NANBPWC) will commemorate the  49th Anniversary of its founding at 4:00 P.M. on Sunday, October 28, 2012 at Galilee United Methodist Church, 325 Genesee Avenue, Englewood, New Jersey.   Victor Deoleo, Iyona McFarlane McDonald, Gervonn Charise Romney Rice, Shirley Smith, and Veona Thomas will be honored.  

Mr. Deoleo will receive the Business Award.  He is owner and partner of Santa Beauty Salon and Crown Beauty Supply in Hackensack.   Iyona McFarland McDonald will be presented the Professional Award.  She has worked in the Financial Services Industry as a Manager of Local Marketing, Corporate Client Relationship Manager, and Assistant Vice President of Executive Financial Services.  She joined her passions for business and baking in a gourmet cupcake shop, I Am Cupcakes, in Little Ferry, NJ.  Teaneck resident, Gervonn Charise Romney Rice, will receive the Community Service Award.  A community activist, she currently serves as Vice President of the Teaneck Board of Education and works as a coordinator for Shelter Our Sisters, Inc.  Shirley Smith, a resident of Englewood, NJ will be awarded the  Human Relations Award.  As a Professional Assistant in the Englewood Public Schools, she became the unofficial advocate for the students.  Mrs. Smith became the first elected member to the Englewood Board of Education in 2001and was appointed a member of the Bergen County Child Placement Review Board overseeing children placed in foster care.  Veona Thomas, a playwright with over 30 plays to her credit, is the recipient of the Cultural Awareness Award.  She has been is the Artistic and Executive Director of REJOTI Traveling Theatre Productions for twenty-five years.  Her latest venture is to create “Steeped In Stories” a venue for all to learn more about the oral tradition.

The public is invited.  Refreshments will be served.  

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