Who doesn’t love a local “Horatio Alger Story”? When there are two in one week, in the season of Thanksgiving, the American Dream is reawakened in all of us!
The Foundation Board of Gateway Community College held their 10th Annual Hall of Fame Induction Reception at the Woodwinds in Branford. The Foundation funds scholarships for students, professional development grants for faculty and staff and equipment for the College.
In addition, the Foundation provides critical advocacy through its work with local businesses in the community. This year’s honorees included Tony Rescigno (pictured), President of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and former First Selectman of North Haven, the home of Gateway’s other campus; he received the Community Award. Patricia Iovene, an Academic Associate at the college, was given the Alumni Award. The Coporate Award was bestowed upon Dr. John Soto (pictured at the top of this article alongside the Board of Education’s Carlos Torre), one of the principals in this story. It was fitting that Dr. Fred McKinney, serving as both the Chairman of the Foundation Board and as President of Connecticut Minority Suppliers Development Council, was the presenter, along with college champion and charmer, Gateway’s President, Dr. Dorsey Kendrick.
John’s story is so compelling that Dr. Carlos Torre of Southern CT State University is writing his biography. (Torre and Soto are pictured here.) Having come to Connecticut from Puerto Rico, Soto was a Spanish-speaking teenager with little formal education and a lot of responsibilities. He was a father and a husband; he was too proud to ask for or accept any kind of financial assistance or social services. He secured a job at Sikorsky, working on an assembly line. In record time, he learned English, enrolled in night school and completed a high school education. While continuing his education and work, he scrambled enough savings together to open a machine shop and become a subcontractor to his former employer. The rest is history: Soto is the President of Spacecraft Manufacturing, a successful company by any standard. He is a paradigm for Minority Business Entrepeneurship. The Dish joined Soto and his entrepreneurial wife, Gladys, the President of Sunset Shores (eldercare facility), to toast this incredible role model. The evening was especially sweet as Soto has just emerged victorious from a bout with cancer.
Café Bottega was the setting for a surprise tribute to Tony Mongillo, a more familiar face to downtown and Broadway denizens. He and brother in law Enzo Pellegrino also arrived on the shores of New Haven from Italy, with little more than hope for their futures.
While their wives sewed in a shirt factory, they learned English and secured their futures in the barbershop trade. Having worked for Joe Catania at the original Phil’s, they ventured off on their own and established Y Haircutting. On the side, Tony taught upholstery in New Haven’s Adult Education Program and dabbled in investment real estate. Although Enzo died prematurely, Tony has continued the proud tradition and partnership with his nephew Bernard Pellegrino adopting his father’s role. The shop has been located on York Street, in a storefront on Broadway, in the lower level of the Yale Co-op, and now on High Street (near Chapel). Tony counts politicians, physicians and presidents among his clientele and friends; he is equally favored by hundreds of Yale students.
To recognize his 50 years, the place was packed with a wonderful and diverse crowd, representative of the multi-generations of family and friends. His wife Carmella, his children: Nick (the Doctor), Tina (the Social Worker) and Bernadette (the Beautician) surrounded him along with their children and other family members. Customers competed for the titles of longest standing (and there were lots of contenders), but
the one customer who had seen Tony on a weekly basis, at all of his locations, trumped them all!
The stories of John and Tony are nothing less than an inspiration and a tribute
To the American Dream and its achievability through fundamental principles and practices. These men got and they give back…..ALL FOR THE GREATER GOOD!
Pictured: Robin and Lance Sauerteig
Pictured: Lindy Lee Gold and Tony Mongillo
Pictured: Tony Mongillo and Arnold Gorlick
Pictured: Carmela and Tony Mongillo with Gloria and Larry Schaffer
Pictured: Sue Swirsky (Gateway Development Staff), Dean Margaret Bauer, Evelyn Gard (Gateway Community Relations), Dr. Fred McKinney (Foundation Chairman), Dr. John Soto and Gladys Soto.
Pictured: Dr. Fred McKinney with John and Gladys Soto.
