Photo: A group of DCC students attended the 2015 gala courtesy of DCC Foundation Board Chair Jeff Smith and his wife, Lynn.
DCC Foundation Gala Honors Four, Raises Funds for Student Scholarships
March 31, 2015 – The Dutchess Community College Foundation’s annual Gala – Community’s Bridge to the Future – was held on March 28 at the Grandview in Poughkeepsie. The event drew approximately 500 guests to honor four outstanding individuals and raised more than $220,000 for student scholarships.
Lisa Cathie (’86) and John Coppola (’82) were inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame, while Emil Panichi earned the inaugural Bridge to the Future Award and Robert Dyson received the Bernard Handel Community Leadership Award.
Cathie is president and CEO of Ulster Savings Bank. Prior to joining Ulster, she was senior vice president and chief operating officer of Orange County Trust Company and regional vice president of Hudson United Bank. She serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council, the Marist College board, the Bardavon/Ulster Performing Arts Center board and the executive committee and board of directors for Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress.
Coppola, along with his brothers, owns and operates two namesake restaurants, a catering service, Coppola Gourmet Sauces and the Village Square Motel. He is the president of the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce and member of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Dutchess County Tourism board.
Panichi is the owner of Royal Carting, a rubbish removal firm he purchased in 1955 that now serves parts of Westchester County north to Albany and parts of Connecticut. Panichi has been a past director and president of the East Fishkill Lions Club, past director of the Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce and board member of the Mid Hudson Savings Bank and its successors, Fidelity Bank and First Union Bank.
Dyson has been president of the Dyson Foundation since 2000. The organization made grants of over $18.6 million in 2012, continuing the tradition started in 1954 by his father, Charles H. Dyson. The Foundation supports colleges, hospitals, arts programs and community centers, and was a major supporter of the Walkway Over the Hudson. Unable to attend the event, Dyson was represented by daughter-in-law- Joy Dyson.
Gala sponsors included Bonura Hospitality Group, Royal Carting, Absolute Auctions and Realty, Health Quest, IBM, Iseman Cunningham Reister & Hyde LLP, the Poughkeepsie Journal, Q92.1, Rhinebeck Bank and Ulster Savings Bank.
Photo: From left are John Coppola, DCC President Dr. Pamela Edington, Lisa Cathie and Emil Panichi.
Founded in 1957, Dutchess Community College is a two-year community college that has earned a reputation for providing an outstanding education at the lowest tuition in New York state. Its main campus is in Poughkeepsie, with a satellite campus in Wappingers Falls. For more information, visit www.sunydutchess.edu.
