Calhoun High School Alumni Welcomes New Hall Of Famers

MERRICK, NY — A big crowd is expected to welcome new inductees into the Calhoun High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame.

This class features 11 graduates and three former staff members.

The gala takes place on April 28 at The Bayview in Freeport.

Honored for their professional and civic leadership accomplishments, the 2023 honorees are:

• Joseph Baker, Class of 1967, retired Nassau County District Court marshal and court officer, board member Merrick Chamber of Commerce
• Donovan Berthold, Class of 1975, Navy veteran, retired Naval reservist, founding member of the Calhoun Alumni Association
• Edward Chang, Class of 1981, surgeon
• Linda and Richard DeMott, retired high school administrative assistant and retired district administrator and coach
• Sally Dworak-Fisher, Class of 1985, senior attorney, National Employment Law Program
• Megan Vasquez-Gordon, Class of 2009, Bank of New York Mellon, former member of the Puerto Rican Women's National Basketball Team
• Marcia Laskin Gould, Class of 1961 (posthumously), former board member NY-USA Wrestling, founder Calhoun Wrestling Alumni
• Richard Kessel, Class of 1967, retired president of the New York Power Authority
• Charles Langone, retired chairman of the Calhoun Fine Arts Department
• Harold "Billy" Murphy, Class of 1989, Emmy, Critics' Choice, and GLAAD Media award-winning television producer and editor
• Colonel John Anthony O'Grady, Class of 1985, retired Army colonel, two-time Bronze Star recipient, businessman
• John Pinto, Class of 1981, youth sports coach, president of AOH District 7 and Historical Society of the Merricks
• James Pooley, Class of 1971, Signature Premiere Properties and founder of You Know You're From Merrick Facebook page

They join 15 previously inducted members of the Hall of Fame.

"The Alumni Association Board of Directors and Hall of Fame organizing committee has been thrilled with the response to this event," said Denise Murphy McGraw, of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. "From the number of outstanding nominees we received late last year, to the outpouring of support for the inductees, the community has embraced the return of the Calhoun Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Gala."

The Induction Ceremony and Gala is the Alumni Association's most significant fundraising event of the year. All proceeds will go toward academic scholarships for graduating seniors.