BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer

Spinnaker Volunteer of the Year Steve Bidgood makes giving to others a part of the way he does business at his restaurant, Salt Creek Grille, Rumson. Some organizations have difficulty keeping awards programs going over the long haul, finding it daunting to come up with a new crop of honorees each year.

Not so for the Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, which last week presented its 14th annual Spinnaker Awards.

“How could you run out of people?” asked chamber president Lynda Rose. “Look around. They don’t all have to be Fortune 500 corporations. Sometimes it’s people down the road. There are always new people.”

To date, the chamber has recognized 84 Spinnaker recipients for their service to the community since the inception of the awards. According to Rose, there is no lack of candidates.

”There are a lot of people who are very deserving. It depends on what you’re looking for. It you’re looking for good people, we’ve got plenty of them,” she said. “That’s what our chamber is all about: diversity, the opportunity for rewarding, and encouraging it.”

Marie Muhler The award itself has evolved over 14 years and currently is in the form of a marble hull with one full sail of canvas and one forward sail — the spinnaker — of clear crystal. The forward sail is set to run before the wind, symbolic of the Spinnaker recipients who “run before the wind in selfless service to others.”

The 2005 Spinnaker Award winners are: Volunteer of the Year, Steve Bidgood, owner of Salt Creek Grille, Rumson; Elected Official of the Year, Marie Muhler, Monmouth County Surrogate; Appointed Official of the Year, Clement Sommers, president, Board of Education, Monmouth County Vocational School District.

Also, the Community Service Award went to the Lakewood BlueClaws; Corporate Good Neighbor Award, Murphy Realty Preferred Homes; Nonprofit Organization of the Year, the Parker Family Health Clinic.

This year, two additional awards for service to the chamber were given to Dr. Florence Forgotson, a charter member of the chamber, which was founded in 1928, and the first woman attorney in Monmouth County, and the late G. Stephen Ingram, founder and former chairman of Shrewsbury State Bank.

Clement Sommers For Steve Bidgood, his career as a restaurateur and his commitment to giving to others were both set early in life.

Following his mother’s lead, the owner of Salt Creek Grille in Rumson started volunteering at 9 years old.

“It was probably one of the best experiences of my life, so I continued it,” said Bidgood, recognized as 2005 Volunteer of the Year for “above and beyond service and dedication by an individual who provides exemplary service to the community.”

“It got into my blood a long time ago,” he said. “Now, through Salt Creek Grille, I’m able to do a lot more.”

Bidgood not only supports local charities with special fundraisers, he has made it a part of everyday business at the restaurant by earmarking $1 from every order of lemon chili garlic chicken to a designated cause annually.

Gerald Murphy “It’s a very important part of my life and my way of also thanking all of my guests that come in,” he said. “It makes you feel great.

“The one thing I don’t do it for is the awards. There are so many other people out there that do as much or more than me.”

“For me, this is very special because the chamber is a wonderful group that does so much for the community,” said Monmouth County Surrogate Marie Muhler, recognized as 2005 Elected Official of the Year. The honor goes to “an individual who has provided outstanding leadership and support of the high principles of the chamber, and who currently serves as an elected official at the local, state or national level.”

Muhler, too, set her course in public service early on.

“I started in high school and I loved being involved,” said Muhler of her first experience as a volunteer for a political campaign. She began her 34-year career in public service on local and regional boards of education and segued to Trenton and a seat in the Assembly, where she served for 11 years. In 1986 she was named to institute the new state office of Public Guardian for Elderly Adults, one of the first in the nation, and in 1992 was elected surrogate, a position in which she and her staff guide people through difficult times in the complex world of wills and estates. Her office handles not only estates and guardianships for people of all ages, but adoptions as well.

Fourteenth annual Spinnaker Award recipients are (l-r) Gerald Murphy, Marie Muhler, Clement Sommers, Steve Bidgood, Joseph Scalise and Dr. Eugene Cheslock. “I also do weddings,” she added. “It’s a very diverse job, and I have a great staff. It’s so rewarding. How many jobs do you get where you spend all day helping people, every day?”

During Clement V. Sommers’ watch, the Monmouth County Vocational School District has experienced an astonishing period of growth to become a model of excellence in education, during which vocational curricula were widely expanded and new, specialized schools opened.

Currently president of the district’s Board of Education, Sommers was recognized as 2005 Appointed Official of the Year, an honor that goes to “an individual whose performance is a source of pride to the citizens he or she serves, and consistent with the high principles of the chamber for all who hold public charge — local, state or national.”

A volunteer appointee for 25 years, there was just one academy program when Sommers joined the board. Today, the district has a total of 9,000 students enrolled in 15 schools and programs that range from career centers for special needs students to the newly opened Bio-Technology High School.

“I feel it’s not a reflection of me, it’s a reflection of the whole board and the school district,” he said. “We have 15 schools in the district scattered throughout the county. We have the conventional type of vocational school where we teach a lot of the trades, from auto repair to carpentry, and we also have five academies.”

The district offers in-depth career training in marine sciences and technology, communications, culinary arts, medical technology, high technology and bio-technology, each in its own specialized school.

The programs have been recognized for their excellence by the federal and state governments, have been designated Blue Ribbon schools multiple times, and have earned a place among the nation’s top high schools.

“Vocational schools are the leaders in education in the U.S. today,” said

Sommers, who has spent a quarter century in public service on the local and county levels. “We are the model, particularly in Monmouth County.”

Sommers points out that the district is not in competition with conventional high schools.

“We hope we’re complementing the comprehensive high school,” he said. “We’re offering programs they can’t offer.”

And, he said, students thrive in the smaller, specialized programs.

“We demand more out of kids. Our graduation requirements are higher than those required by the state,” he said. “They have jam-filled days and the kids love it!”

Parker Family Health Center was designated the 2005 Nonprofit of the Year. The clinic opened its doors on July 31, 2000, in a temporary trailer in Red Bank. Since then, the clinic has had more than 25,000 patient visits.

The clinic was established to carry on the work of the two Drs. James Parker, father and son, who cared for generations of families on Red Bank’s west side. Staffed by more than 100 doctors, dentists, nurses and other medical personnel who serve with no compensation, the clinic provides the services of a family doctor in caring for more than 7,000 adults and children unable to pay or not covered by health insurance.

“Our connection with the community is basically what keeps this place as successful as it is,” said Joseph Scalise, operations manager of the Lakewood BlueClaws, which received the Community Service Award, given to a business with fewer than 50 employees.

“To continue to maintain the success we have, we must keep a great relationship with the community around us,” said Scalise, operations manager for the Single-A affiliate team of the Philadelphia Phillies, and whose home field is FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood.

The BlueClaws combine sportsmanship and philanthropy by giving back to the community with special nights celebrating community groups, youth sports programs, and fundraisers for worthy causes.

“Even in the off-season, we’re still out there,” said Scalise. “We go out into the community, and what we get is people realize we are genuinely happy to be in this area. We could do it with marketing alone, but sometimes spending money is not the way to go to reach out to the community.”

Murphy Realty Preferred Homes’ received the Corporate Good Neighbor Award as a business with more than 50 employees “whose culture motivates employees to be personally involved as Good Samaritans in helping people in need.”

CEO Jerry Murphy founded Murphy Realty in 1993 and has spread a philosophy of community involvement to the more than 150 men and women involved with the firm who work with youth sports teams, on blood drives and municipal boards and at soup kitchens. In addition, the Murphy Realty Foundation raises funds for Monmouth and Ocean County charities focusing on one major recipient each year. This year’s organization is the Monmouth Center for Vocational Rehabilitation, for which Murphy serves as director and chairman.