“A great way to honor the life of a community servant”
Joyce Clayborne, Juanita King, Ana Martinez, Laurie Tautel, Carlys Lemler, Sara Kelley, Debbie Gonzalez, Ann Molina, Lafolla Davis, Enoch Brown, Noal Lanier, SFC Josephine Pride and Michael Addison aren’t the type of people who go out looking for the spotlight. In fact, it might even make them downright uncomfortable to be in front of a crowd of people.
But, like it or not, the 13 Town of Highlands residents were front and center last Thursday morning at a ceremony hosted by Councilman Tyrone King, honoring them with the first ever ‘Cora L. Matthews Service Award’, given on a day the town had declared as Cora Matthews Day.
Mrs. Matthews died earlier this year.
It was a short ceremony held at Memorial Park, mostly attended by the honorees and a few family members. Senator James Skoufis, Supervisor Bob Livsey and Mayor Joe D’Onofrio were on hand, as was Board of Education Vice President Ned Kopald, who spoke about Mrs. Matthews.
“She really was part of the fabric of this community,” Kopald said. “She was of sterling character, and showed great strength.”
“Do a good deed, within the next week or so.
Ned Kopald
Do it in recognition of the life and legacy
of Mrs. Matthews.”
He recounted that she and her husband, the late Sgt. Sanders Matthews, were friends of his parents, and recalled visiting with her in her kitchen and learning some of the early history of Highland Falls and West Point from her.
He wasn’t the only one who recounted stories from that kitchen. As Mrs. Matthews’ granddaughter, Dr. Aundrea Matthews, handed a plaque to each honoree after King read their names, she spoke briefly about their relationship with her grandmother. Many of the stories involved food, and mutual care between community residents and her grandparents.
Matthews thanked King for honoring her grandmother by honoring others. “Thank you, she said, for shining a little love, joy and appreciation to others who truly make our community great,” she said.
That theme held true throughout the ceremony too, with Kopald saying “we need to recognize the people who are important to our community and who make it the hometown we love.”
Livsey said he thanks God for the “good people of this town who turn out for great events like this and so many others.”
D’Onofrio thanked King for holding the ceremony and encouraged him to continue to recognize the people who make the community the place that it is.
Skoufis said he had the honor of knowing Mrs. Matthews and she represented “all that is great here in the Town of Highlands; the heart and soul of the community in so many ways. It’s very rare you meet someone that is loved by everybody. Mrs. Matthews was universally respected and loved, and for good reason.”
As the ceremony ended, Kopald asked one thing of those in attendance.
“Do a good deed, within the next week or so,” he said. “Do it in recognition of the life and legacy of Mrs. Matthews.”