BMNAR's 90th Anniversary: Went off without a hitch

By Eliezer Rodriguez On April 23, the day before the Bronx-Manhattan North Association of Realtors (BMNAR) celebrated their 90th Anniversary of their Annual Banquet, assemblyman Luis Sepulveda stopped by my office at 1867 Williamsbridge Rd. to greet and meet my board of governors during our monthly meeting. At the meeting, the assemblyman wished the banquet committee a "Happy 90th Birthday" and he thanked my board for the charitable work it does to help our neighbors. Since assemblyman Sepulveda was not sure if he would be able to attend our 90th Anniversary Annual Banquet, he came to the board meeting bearing gifts in the form of Citations. The first Citation was presented to BMNAR for the financial support we provided to Alexandra Valle. In April of 2013, Sepulveda asked BMNAR to help Valle, a 10th grader at Mott Hall V in the Bronx, who was selected as a junior statesman of America, to attend the prestigious summer program at Georgetown University. To attend, Valle needed to raise $3,000 by June 13, 2013, to secure her seat. Richard Guarino, president of BMNAR's board, said, "Assemblyman Sepulveda asked us to go to bat for Alexandra and we hit a 'homerun.' At the president's Cocktail Reception on June 11, 2013 we raised enough money to send her to Georgetown and for her to buy a few outfits." Sepulveda was present when the check was given to Valle's mother. The second Citation was for Rubin Pikus, CEO of Millbrook Properties Ltd., for winning a hole-in-one contest at BMNAR's Golf and Tennis Outing on June 24, 2013 and then donating the $10,000 to two charities, one of which was Camp Good Days and Special Times. The Camp was chosen as BMNAR's official charity in 1988 by Mark Engel, president of Langsam Property Services, who was then the sitting president of BMNAR. Rubin turned a miraculous hole-in-one into a hole-for-many. Engel was the recipient of the final Citation. For many years, Engel has being directly involved in raising over $250,000 for the camp. The camp's mission is to restore to children and families what cancer has taken away from them. The camp is not a place looking for a cure. It is place that provides what its name implies - "good days and special times." I was personally impressed with the assemblyman's act of kindness and for getting our 90th Anniversary celebration started a day earlier. Our 90th Anniversary Annual Banquet went off without a hitch. Former Bronx president, Adolfo Carrion, Jr., gave the invocation and Rob Astorino, Westchester County executive, delivered the Keynote address. Over four-hundred stars from the real estate world and their friends attended our black tie affair. Among our guests were my friends from the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR): JP Endres, president of NYSAR; Michael Smith, NYSAR president-elect; Duncan MacKenzie, CEO of NYSAR; and, Lisbeth English, NYSAR Regional vice president. BMNAR congratulates the event's honorees for their contribution to the real estate trade and to the communities they serve. A special thank you goes out to the banquet committee, major sponsors, contributors, hosts of reserved tables, journal advertisers and the BMNAR staff for their extraordinary efforts in coordinating this fabulous event. This annual banquet will go down in history as part of The Bronx Centennial celebration. Our next major event is the 79th Annual Golf and Tennis Outing on June 16 at the Trump National Golf Club, Westchester. This year's honorees are: James Coleman, managing member, Houlihan-Parnes Realtors, LLC; and Joseph Mawad, president, Tekniverse, Inc. You still have time to sign up to play golf, tennis or to just attend the dinner. The highlight of the dinner is when Engel works his magic to raise money for our charity Camp Good Days and Special Times. For more information, please contact Eliezer Rodriguez, Esq., at (917) 608-0466 or Janine Schall at (718) 892-3000. Don't forget to invest in RPAC. Eliezer Rodriguez is the association executive of BMAR, Bronx, N.Y.