Bridgewater Resident Chosen as Outstanding Citizen

Bridgewater resident Rick Fontana was recently chosen as the 61st Somerset County Outstanding Citizen of the Year, according to a release from the Somerset County Business Partnership.

Fontana is also a former member of the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

The award, according to the release, is given to those in the county who serve as volunteers and demonstrate creativity, vision, leadership and citizenship in Somerset County programs.

A reception will be held May 6 at the Martinsville Inn on Washington Valley Road.

“The citizen of the year honor and the gathering of friends and business associates recognizing a lifetime of achievement is one of the signature events in Somerset County,” Frank Steinberg, chairman of the business partnership, said in the release. “The list of people receiving this honor represents the leadership that made our county great. As much as this is an honor for Rick, it is an event that pays tribute to all who have gone before him.”

Past recipients of the award have included Bridgewater attorney Jim Ventantonio, Somerset County administrator Dick Williams, former Manville mayor Angelo Corradino and Sen. Walter Kavanaugh, among others.

Fontana, according to the release, has served as a financial advisor, a councilman in North Plainfield and a councilman in Bridgewater, and was a Somerset County freeholder for 12 years.

In 2009, Fontana chose not to seek reelection with the county.

While serving as a freeholder, according to the release, Fontana worked on the preservation of open space and other initiatives for the businesses in the county, while also working with the business partnership. In his work, he helped with the expansion of the Somerset County Adult Day Center and the Ted Blum 4-H Center, while also spearheading the Athletic Field Grant Program for improving public recreation opportunities.

While serving as a freeholder, the release says, Fontana helped create a Veteran’s Job Fair and Leadership Somerset, which helps county residents become trustees of their communities.

In his time with the county, the release says, Fontana also helped increase the open space goal from 10,500 acres to 20,500 acres, and was a recipient of the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association award.

Over the years, Fontana has also worked with several county organizations including Middle Earth, Boy Scouts of America, the Somerset County 4-H Association and the Somerville Elks.

The Outstanding Citizen of the Year award was initially presented to Somerville Mayor Howard Lyons in 1950, and, since then according to the release, county residents have been chosen who have served the community in all sorts of professions including newspaper publishers, clergy, business leaders and philanthropists.