Dear Local Friends and Residents:

Sep. 14, 2016:  The Simon family would like to thank all the community members who have been very kind to us since our recent loss of home by fire on August 2, 2016.

We deeply appreciate the many notes, letters, emails, and offers to help as we have dealt with this tragedy.

It is our hope to rebuild our home to its former glory and once again greet our friends and neighbors there.

Sincerely,

Olinda and John Simon and Family
Bronxville, New York

By Guy S. Longobardo, Member, Good Shepherd Committee, Concordia College

May 25, 2016:  For forty years I've enjoyed Concordia College’s presence in Bronxville. In winters with other members of the Bronxville Field Club, I play at the Meyers Tennis Center. And like many Bronxville residents, I enjoy the cultural offerings in music and art, the business breakfasts, and the lectures.

But one Concordia activity in which I take particular pride is serving on its Good Shepherd Committee.

The Good Shepherd Award honors the student who has done the most with his given abilities "to encourage others to follow his or her example of Christian witness and service to Christ."

On May 3, I was at the Concordia Sommer Center when graduating students were receiving awards for their contributions to academic and student life. The Good Shepherd awardee is not announced in advance and he or she is always greeted with loud whoops and applause.

Clarence J. Meyers established the award in memory of his son Alan Meyers and Alan's wife, Justine, who died in a crash while landing a plane in a severe storm at Westchester County airport in 1983. They were a kind, talented couple caring for students, faculty, and friends inside and outside Concordia. In short, they were good shepherds.

Typically, the Good Shepherd awardee gives service to the community through student organizations and to fellow students serving in such roles as members of student government, tutors, mentors, or resident advisors. They are very well known to their classmates.

The award this year went to Davin Thompson-Williams. Davin, who just graduated from Concordia, was very active in the Concordia community, holding a number of leadership roles. He was the spiritual life and outreach coordinator for student government, he led homeless runs, he worked on Habitat for Humanity projects, he volunteered at soup kitchens, he was president of the Concordia Tour Choir and Gospel Knights Choir, he served as an active member of the service fraternity Omega Psi Eta, and he worked in a food pantry during the Hurricane Sandy crisis.

Pictured here:  Top photo: President Viji George at graduation with Davin Thompson-Williams, 2016 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award; bottom photo (L to R): Neil Tarangioli, Concordia men's tennis coach; 2015 Good Shepherd Award winner Dagyeong Yang; and Guy S. Longobardo.  

Photos by Chris Pope