Boys & Girls Club Honors Coughlin, Walsh

The Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley presented Raymond P. Lavietes Service to Youth Awards to Martin Coughlin and Jack Walsh at its annual Service to Youth Awards dinner held at the Stone Barn Restaurant at Whitney Farms Golf Course on June 12. 

The Raymond P. Lavietes Service to Youth Award is the highest honor our Boys & Girls Club can bestow on an individual. 

It is presented to those worthy of recognition due to their involvement in serving the youth of our community. Nominees exhibit outstanding leadership and untiring dedication to youth activities, a distinguished record in volunteer service with an emphasis on youth and may be former Club members who have made notable accomplishments which would serve as a model to the youth of today.

The first recipient, Martin Coughlin, has been a member of our Board of Directors for nearly 20 years and has served as Secretary for almost that long, relinquishing the post just this year. Throughout his tenure Marty has freely shared his expertise, usually delivered with his signature touch of humor. Marty has served not only as our long-standing secretary, but also on our Building Committees for both the Raymond P. Lavietes and Joel E. Smilow Units and as chair for the organization’s Building Maintenance Committee.

Marty majored in English at the College of the Holy Cross and received his Masters in English from New York University. During his career at Market Data Retrieval/Dun & Bradstreet, he was their Director of Educational Database Compilation, as well as Corporate Secretary at Market Data Retrieval and Vice President at Dun & Bradstreet.  At Database America, Inc., he served as Director of Compilation, Business to Business Database. 

In the public service arena, Marty has served as Chairman of the Shelton Conservation Commission and for ten years on the Board of Aldermen, six as President and two as Vice President. He is a member of the Board of A&T and the Emergency Medical Service Commission, as well as a member of the Building Committees for the Shelton Community Center (Chairman), Shelton Senior Center, Shelton High School 
Renovation Committee, and the Plumb Memorial Library Renovation and Parking Lot Construction Committees. 

Marty has served as a mentor in the Shelton School System, as a Director with the St. Vincent DePaul Society and the Shelton Economic Development Corporation, and as President of the Long Hill Burying Ground and Shelton Historical Society.  His daughters Wendy and Deborah have given Marty and his wife, Margaret, five grandchildren, ranging in age from sixth grade to college. 

The second recipient is John Joseph “Jack” Walsh. Jack has always been interlaced with the Valley community. A lifelong Derby resident, Jack attended the Recreation Camp (where he learned to swim) and graduated from St. Mary’s School. 

Jack retired from his 27-year tenure at the Valley United Way in 2016. He had been their President and Chief Financial Officer and grew the organization as a community resource by adding the Youth Leadership Program, the Volunteer Action Center and the partner Agency Council, which expanded to become the Valley Council for Health & Human Services. He was also one of the leaders in the Valley’s successful effort in the All American City competition in 2000.

Prior to taking the reins of the Valley United Way, Jack was Director of the Recreation Camp in Derby for 14 years. 

Jack began his career as a teacher, and he taught in Shelton and Derby and was the head basketball coach at Shelton High.  

Jack was Chair of Derby’s Park & Recreation Commission for 15 years and currently chairs Derby’s Greenway Committee and co-chairs the Naugatuck River Greenway Committee. He was responsible for convincing the city to restore the National Humane Alliance Foundation and for starting the city’s Hall of Fame. 

Jack was a member and President of the Board of Directors at the Derby Neck Library, member and past president of both the Derby-Shelton Rotary and Ancient Order of Hibernians, chair of the Electronic Valley project, webmaster of the City of Derby site. He has served on the Boards for the Hallock’s Landing Senior Housing Project and Derby Historical Society served two terms as President of the Historical Society, served on the Valley Advisory Committee for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, is a corporator for Griffin Hospital and a member and past co-chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Yale/Griffin Prevention Resource Center. 

Jack is one of the founders of the annual Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5K and created and maintained the race’s website for 15 years. 

We inducted Jack into our Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2008. Jack’s other community honors include the 2017 Charles H. Flynn Humanitarian Award, presented by the Valley United Way, as well as the Platinum and Gold Seal Awards from the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce. He has received the Lewis Savitsky Staff Excellence Award, the Valley Council of Governments’ Hazel Knapp Award for regional leadership, the Derby Historical Society’s Dr. John I. Howe Award, the Parent Child Resource Center’s Outstanding Service to Children and Families Award, the Valley YMCA’s Strong Community Builder Award. The Women and Heart Disease Committee at Griffin Hospital presented him with its “Caring Heart” Award in 2011. In 2012 he received the Spirit of St. Mary – St. Michael School award. 

Three Champion of Youth awards were also presented at the dinner. This is the highest honor our Boys & Girls Club can bestow on a company/organization. It is presented to those worthy of recognition due to their involvement in serving the youth of our community. Nominees exhibit outstanding leadership and untiring dedication to youth activities, a distinguished record in volunteer service with an emphasis on youth, and exceptional support of our Boys & Girls Club. The award recipients are: Charter Arms, Friends of Jimmy Miller, Inc., and Serra & DelVecchio Insurance.

In addition, four From the Heart Awards were presented. This award recognizes individuals and organizations who go above and beyond in supporting our organization, contributing their time, talent, and/or treasure in ways that directly impact our members. Their special acts of caring are often the touch that makes their chosen program, event, or unit a success. The award recipients are: Marissa DeRosa, Mark Dymerski, Exchange Club of Shelton and Fred Ortoli.

For more information about the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley visit us at www.BGC-LNV.org