Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • July 18, 2012 Ramsey Local emergency management officials attend seminar Members of the Ramsey Office of the Emergency Management recently attended a seminar presented by Orange and Rockland Utilities on ORU’s response to Hurricane Irene and the October 2011 snow storm. The meeting was held at the Crossroads Sheraton in Mahwah. Attending the meeting were government officials from the county and local levels, and members of the emergency services and public works departments. Ramsey OEM members who attended the session included OEM Coordinator Ralph Venturini, Deputy Coordinators Glen Karpovich and Sergeant Angelo Lamanna, and Operations Chief Steve Ahlsedt. Jack D’Agostaro, superintendent of the Ramsey DPW, also attended. Senior leaders from ORU discussed their response to the two storms and the lessons learned from them. They also discussed the improvements being made to their storm response, such as maintaining a remote office at the Ramsey Emergency Operations Center when needed. Ramsey OEM Coordinator Venturini commented on this long-standing relationship that has been mutually beneficial to both ORU and the residents of Ramsey. The keynote speaker was former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, who was also the first secretary of the U.S. Operations Chief Steve Ahlstedt, Coordinator Ralph Venturini, Deputy Coordinators Glen Karpovich, and Sergeant Angelo Lamanna at the seminar. (Photo courtesy of ORU.) Department of Homeland Security. Ridge spoke about his experience with emergencies and disasters on the state and national levels and discussed the importance of meetings between the public and private sectors. The newly-organized Ramsey Chamber of Commerce has officially organized with Robert Tilton of Wireless World of Ramsey at its helm. President Tilton will be joined by Vice President Mark Gatto, Treasurer January Bourke, and Secretary Randy Lloyd. Members of the Ramsey Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors include Sal Pernice, Terri O’Connor, Bill Dator, Tom Grissom, and Gina Avino. The IT Team includes Ray Mancism, David Wilding, Alex Stecyna, Adam Sroczynski, and Betsy Coyne. Team leaders will be Rick Woelke, Donna Benedetto, Ramsey Chamber of Commerce announces first officers Chris Dater, Jeanne Macko, Sean Royle, and Suzanne Mednick. The support staff members are Maureen Delcolliano, Gloria Wong, Sally Ann Bengasi, Michael Evangel, John Reczowski, Young Lee, Chris Haskell, Craig Cutler, Suzanne Jahn, Philip Mones, Elizabeth Mallory, Joseph Papovano, Rick Thornlow, Charlotte Martyn, and Elizabeth Mallory. “Because we are starting at the very beginning, we will need an ‘all hands on deck’ mentality initially to get the word out there,” Tilton said. “There are still a lot of busi- nesses that we were unable to contact; so our first focus will be to blanket the town of Ramsey and make sure that everyone is aware of the Chamber. “We will have a very open organization and will entertain any/all ideas regarding fundraisers, charities, business ideas, etc. Even though there are positions, we will take everyone’s feedback and see if it can work for our purposes and make sense. “Thank you for all of your contributions. I look forward to taking this Chamber to the next level.” Tilton’s business phone is (201) 818-7171.