Chamber To Honor Joanne K. Adams as Citizen of the Year

On Friday evening, April 23, at its annual Pineapple Ball to be held at The Garden City Hotel at 7 p.m. until midnight, the Garden City Chamber of Commerce will honor Joanne K. Adams as Garden City's "Citizen of the Year" for 2010.

Adams will be feted as the 39th recipient of this prestigious award established by the chamber in 1970 to recognize volunteerism and outstanding service to the Village of Garden City and beyond.

Adams serves the Garden City community as president of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Inc., as past president and board member of the Garden City Historical Society, director of the Property Owners Association of the Garden City Estates, Inc. and as board member of the St. Mary's and St. Paul's Development Fund, and she has served as a member of the Garden City Belmont Festival planning committee for the past 10 years.

In the past, she served as vice president of the Garden City Community Fund, alumni board member of the Cathedral Schools of St. Mary's and St. Paul's and as a volunteer of the Garden City PTA, the Garden City TWIGS of Winthrop University Hospital and the Nassau Conservancy.

Adams is the director of community relations for The New York Racing Association, Inc. ("NYRA"). She serves as a liaison between NYRA and the local communities surrounding Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Saratoga Race Course. She coordinates NYRA's charitable giving, serves as NYRA's representative to the local business communities and oversees NYRA's participation in community activities on and off track.

Adams was appointed by NYRA to serve on the Saratoga Local Advisory Board and the Aqueduct Racetrack Local Advisory Board. She is a board member of the Backstretch Employee Services Team of New York Inc. ("B.E.S.T.") and she serves on the board of the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development as well as the Elmont Business Improvement District Establishment Board.

A sustaining member of the New York Junior League and a volunteer for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Adams is also a past president of the Fellowship of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City and was appointed by Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America to serve on the endowment committee for the Cathedral School.

During her years in Geneva, Switzerland, Adams served as president of the American Women's Club and she was a founding member of the Geneva America Center.

Adams graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, MA and served, along with her husband, as members of the President's Commission.  She graduated from the Cathedral School of St. Mary in Garden City, where she was a recipient of the Headmaster's Award. She was presented for the benefit of the Bishop's call at the Cornelia Cotillion.

Additionally, Adams is a recipient of the New York State Senate Liberty Award and the American Legion Law and Order Award.

Adams resides in Garden City with her husband, Ken, and daughter, Sydney. Kenneth A. Adams is the founder of AdamsDrafting and is a published author and lecturer in law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Sydney A. Adams is an eighth grade student at Garden City Middle School and a member of the National Junior Honor Society.

For reservations, sponsorship opportunities, to purchase a Journal ad or to donate a silent auction prize, call Tracey Gittere at Legendary Events at 516-222-0550 or visit the chamber website at www.GardenCityChamber.org.