1st Annual Gala
Our very first gala was held on February 12, 2016 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. The annual theme was “Hope Rises,” based on a Phoenix rising out of the ashes like NYC and America did after 9/11, on the hope cancer patients have when they begin treatment, on the hope people have when they are in a disaster and in need of rescuing, and of course, on our hopes to get the home built!
Our keynote speaker was Helen Reisler, President of the Rotary Club of NYC on 9/11. Helen has a background in education, media, business, and non-profit, where she has held various high profiled positions and is often referred to as a “Woman of “Firsts.”
She was one of the first women to work her way up to the position of Vice-President in a New York City publishing/ advertising company, the first woman vice-president on the board of the Sales & Marketing Executives Club, and one of the founders of the Sales Hall of Fame.
The members of the Rotary Club of New York invited Helen to be their first woman member in 1988 and thirteen years later she the first woman president of that club in their 92-year history. It should come as no surprise that she was the first Rotary club president to face the challenge of an unprecedented terror attack on her own city in 2001.
Helen’s successful coordination of volunteer activities during the “9/11 Disaster,” during her year of club president, encouraged her 185 members to use their individual skills at “Ground Zero,” aid in the relief efforts, and send 45 first responders on vacation. She inspired contributions of $1.4 million and oversaw the efficient disbursement of the monies to the neediest. . During “9/11” she developed a special appreciation for the heroism of firefighters and continues to advocate for them.
Joined by Helen, is retired NYFD Lt. Joe Torrillo. Joe Torrillo was a 25-year Lieutenant with the NYC Fire Dept. who is now retired on disability. He spent the first 15 years of his career in Engine Company # 10, across the street from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. While recuperating from a severe injury on New Year’s Eve of 1996 going in to 1997, Joe was assigned to convalesce in the office of fire safety education. Eight months into this “light-duty” position, Joe was ultimately named the Director of this public-based program. In his new position, Joe would co-design a children’s state-of-the-art fire safety learning center, which opened in October, 2000.
This new venue, “The Fire Zone “, in the heart of Manhattan, was nominated and won the coveted “THEA” award at the Emmy’s in 2002. Shortly thereafter, in January of 2001, Joe worked on a project with Fisher-Price Toys to help design a new children’s “action figure”, which was part of their line of “Rescue Heroes”. This new action figure was named “Billy Blazes” and was a likeness of a NYC Firefighter, who was an addition to their other “Rescue Heroes “.
In conjunction with the Executives of the Fisher-Price Corp., Joe chose the “Fire Zone” as the location for the press conference to introduce “Billy Blazes”, and then keeping with a safety theme, ironically chose the date of September 11, 2001, because 9/11 is the Emergency phone number in New York City.
On the way to the press conference, that was set for 9 a. m., Joe was about an eighth of a mile away from the World Trade Center, when American Airlines Flight #11 struck the South Tower at 8:46 a.m. Fearing for his Firefighter brothers in Engine Co. 10 and Ladder Co. 10 across the street from the Towers, Joe diverted to the scene to render assistance.
Three minutes after donning borrowed bunker gear, at 9:03 a.m., the second jet, flew over Joe’s head and slammed in to the South Tower. With a background in Structural Engineering, Joe made an immediate assessment that everyone above the fire was doomed to death, and the buildings would collapse.
While Joe was involved in the rescue operation, the South tower fell at 9:59 a.m. Joe was buried alive with a fractured skull, broken ribs, broken arm, crushed spine and heavy internal bleeding. Shortly after being found alive in the rubble, they removed Joe on a long spine board and placed him on the deck of a boat on the Hudson River, with the expectation of getting him to a hospital. As emergency personnel were holding his split scalp together, the North Tower fell and buried Joe alive again. He was alone in the engine room.
About 45 minutes later, Joe was once again rescued from the debris, and taken across the Hudson River, where he awoke in a hospital room at the Jersey City Trauma Center in New Jersey. Because he was wearing a borrowed set of firefighting clothing with the name Thomas McNamara, Joe was misidentified by that name, and Joe was declared missing for 3 days. By the time the sun set on the evening of September11, 2001, Joe had miraculously survived the collapse of both Towers, but with life-long injuries. Sadly, “Billy Blazes” would come to represent the 343 New York City Firefighters who had made the supreme sacrifice of their lives in the rescue effort.
Today Joe Torrillo travels the world as a professional speaker with a quest to make our country the “Re-United States of America”, resurrecting patriotism, trumpeting the men and women of the Armed Services, mentoring adolescents, and inspiring audiences of all sizes to embrace change and never give up on their dreams.
The MC was Emmy award winner, Ernie Manouse. Ernie Manouse, a native of Binghamton, NY and a graduate of Loyola University Chicago, launched his broadcasting career with NBC News before producing programs at Chicago radio station WLS-AM. In 1996, Ernie joined HoustonPBS (now Houston Public Media), and as an anchor and producer, he has garnered seven Emmy Awards, five KATIE Awards, a Houston Press Club Lone Star Award, “viewer’s choice” recognition from multiple local and regional publications, and the title of “Ultimate Interviewer” from the Houston Chronicle.
His intellect, natural curiosity, and ability to help people tell their story have been hallmarks of Ernie’s many television projects. InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse, an Emmy-nominated and nationally broadcast interview series will enter its 15th season in 2016. His weekly program Arts InSight explores stories and issues of importance to the Houston arts lovers. And currently Manouse is in production on the fourth season of the nationally syndicated and widely successful Downton Abbey inspired talk show Manor of Speaking.
The very first Rotary Fire Fighters Home Fighter of the Year Award was presented to Steve was born and raised in Houston. He joined the Houston Fire Department (HFD) in 1974 where he worked for almost 39 years, retiring in January of 2013.
During his career with HFD, Steve was an HFD instructor for thirty years teaching Fire Cadets, rescue classes and officer development.
Steve served as District Chief for 18 years and a Rescue Coordinator for HFD for over 15 years.
In addition to his HFD responsibilities, Chief Sparks served as a Rescue Manager for TxTF-1 for the past 19 years. He was deployed to Texas disasters like the recent Wimberley Floods, Hurricanes Rita and Ike, the Bastrop forest fire and the plant explosion in West, TX.
Steve has also responded as a TXTF-1 rescue manager to national disasters including New York after 9/11 and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
The very first gala was a great success!
