The Rotary Club of Watertown has announced that Joseph McGrail has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Alexander L. Alves Award.
The 29th Annual Alexander Alves Award celebration and dinner to honor Mr. McGrail will be held on Wednesday, May 21st at 6:00pm at the Grand Oak Villa, 550 Sylvan Lake Road, Oakville.
Alexander L. Alves was respected by many as an outstanding humanitarian, working behind the scenes assisting individuals and groups in need. He raised his family, built his business and served this community for over 60 yrs. The purpose of this award is to memorialize Mr. Alves’ contributions to the community by honoring a person who embodies the qualities of outstanding achievement, volunteerism and service.
Joe McGrail grew up in Waterbury and attended St Mary’s Grammer School, Wilby High School, and Post College. Before retiring, Joe worked for nearly 40 years at Bristol Babcock/ Emerson Electric and held a variety of positions in both manufacturing and sales and marketing.
Joseph and his wife Tina of 52 years moved to Oakville in 1984. At the time it was thought of as a temporary home, but it proved to be a wonderful neighborhood to raise two children,Christopher and Marisa, and after 41 years there is no plan to move.
Shortly after moving to Oakville, Joe joined the Watertown Fire Dept. Growing up living just feet away from a downtown Waterbury fire company (East Main St), he was inspired by the work the fireman did and wanted to help the Watertown/Oakville community in such a capacity. Joe was an active member of the Watertown Fire Department for nearly 25 years and reached the rank of Captain. He stated that it was a remarkable experience being a firefighter, and in the process he met so many great and dedicated firefighters in the department.
Joe has also served 20 years on the Watertown Economic Development Commission and served as chairman for a numberof those years. He expressed that it has been an honor to serve on EDC with the men and women on this committee. EDC’s success is due in no small part to Joe Seacrist who recently retired as economic coordinator and without his input, EDC would not have been as successful. Additionally, Joe McGrail has served several years on the Parks and Recreation Commission under the leadership of Bill Donston.
Being a parent of a special needs child has introduced Joe and his wife to the Watertown Area Association of Special Citizens and CT Special Olympics. In 1984 they had the extreme honor of meeting Rocco Calabrese who was at that time a special education teacher at Polk School. Joe and his wife, like many parents of special needs children, struggled to cope with the challenge. Rocco taught them not only to cope, but to look at disabilities through a different lens. To quote Rocco; “let’s not worry about what Chris can’t do, but let’s build on what he can do and grow on that”.
Over the years Joe and his family have spent countless hours with the special needs community, and Joe has picked up where Rocco left off, serving as president for the past 10 years. During those years he has expanded WAASC to include the Rocco and Antoinette Calabrese Learning Center. Joe feels that being the president of WAASC is a bit of a misnomer. He states that he has a wonderful parent group that guides the association, making his job a pleasure. Joe has also served as local coordinator for CT Special Olympics for over 30 years and serves on the board of Waterbury ARC. He stated that working with the special needs of the community is a blessing, and it’s been the honor of his life.
Last, but certainly not least, Joe is a very proud member of the Watertown Lions Club with his son Chris. They enjoy the comradery and the philanthropic work the Lions do for the local community. Recently, his grandson Tommy joined the Leo’s Club, an afterschool program sponsored by Lions club at Swift Jr High School.
In his spare time Joe enjoys spending time with his family andfriends, especially time spent with his grandchildren Tommy and Camille.
Tickets for this event are available for $50 per person at the Watertown Parks and Recreation Department, 61 Echo Lake Road. For additional information, to purchase tickets or to reserve seating, please contact Rotarian Sandy Broden at 203-910-7001 or sjbroden@gmail.com.
The deadline for tickets is May 9th.