Yorktown Chamber of Commerce Honors Five Members

The held its Member Appreciation Night on Wednesday when it honored five of its own members, Ferdinard Esser, Chereese Jervis-Hill, John Decker, Ron Guarino and Andy Tumolo. 

Introduction of each honoree was done by, Chamber of Commerce President Joseph Visconti, has been with the Chamber since 2002. Prior to that he was in the garment business. Visconti, originally from Yonkers, moved to Yorktown 1978.

"I think Yorktown is a special place," he said. "Back then if you wanted to own a house you came to Yorktown. A lot of people did what I did. Most of the people up here are from the Bronx or Yonkers."

Honoree Chereese Jervis-Hill, the mother of two daughters, is the owner of Events to Remember. She said she joined the Chamber of Commerce after speaking with Dr. Ferdinard Esser and realizing how important the human element was to the Chamber of the community.

Prior to having her own successful company, Jervis-Hill had done corporate events for Philip Morris, Met Life and others. After Sept. 11, 2001, she said the meeting and events industries, as well as other businesses, were hit hard, so she took some time off. Originally, she started working part time and eventually grew her business into the successful company it is today.

Ferdinard Esser, a professor, chiropractor and the owner of Sports Therapy of Yorktown, PLLC, has been a member of the Yorktown Chamber of Commerce for six years. He said business and community are both put first in Yorktown, which is why he started the Health and Fitness Committee for the Chamber. Just this past spring they concluded their first annual Healthy Yorktown 5k run/walk at FDR park. Not only was it an opportunity for people to exercise but the money raised and received from sponsors went directly to the local schools, he said.

"The chamber had all these different people, all these different professional people that came together and said, 'I can do this, I can do that,'" he said. 

The support in his idea made the run/walk successful and organizers have already begun preparations for next year's Healthy Yorktown 5k run/walk.

Ron Guariano, owner of Autobahn Car Repair, is involved in the creation of The Fall Festival and the Car Show. This year the festival, which takes place on Veterans Road in October will have a race track for remote control cars, various amusements, and food. 

"As a board member I help with some of the decision making as far as what would help the community and business, making it better for them, so hopefully they will thrive," he said. 

John Decker, a retired captain from the New York City Police Department has lived in Yorktown his entire life. He is the owner of Imperial Protection and Investigation, and has been a member of the Chamber for three and a half years. He become involved with the chamber after attending a networking meeting.

"In any community when you have two items -- one is faith and one is family, you will have a good community and Yorktown has both," he said of what makes Yorktown a special place. 

Andy Tumolo, owner of Maple Leaf Associates, Inc, has been a member of the Chamber for seven years. He is a Diamond sponsor and participates in all of the meetings and events. He credits the Chamber for their successful events and activities that support the community. Tumolo, a graduate of Western Connecticut with a degree in biology, borrowed money from his father in 1996 to buy a Ford F 350 Dump Truck. He began his company 15 years ago.

The Yorktown Chamber of Commerce is set up to help businesses, and help them connect and thrive. For more information, click here.