Haverhill Rotary Club President Arthur H. Veasey III addressing Haverhill city councilors. (WHAV News photograph).
Three military veterans well known for daily service to the community receive top honors Thursday when the Rotary Club of Haverhill has its first Veterans Day Awards Breakfast.
Highgaz “Hy” DerBogosian, an Army veteran with tours in Korea and Japan, receives the service club’s Lifetime Service Award, while Navy veteran Adam Bonds takes the Community Service Award and Navy veteran and Haverhill Police Officer Nicole Donnelly receives the Service to Youth Award.
“This week, with enormous admiration, the Rotary Club will inaugurate a new Haverhill tradition recognizing the men and women, who have served our country with distinction and who, for many generations, have defined the fabric of this great city,” Rotary Club President Arthur H. Veasey III told WHAV. “Through several wars and two recent conflicts in the Middle East our veterans have sacrificed much and the first annual Veterans Day Breakfast is our chance to say: Thank you for your service.”
DerBogosian served in the U.S. Army, beginning in 1946. He has been described as “going above and beyond to serve his country and his community,” volunteering at Emmaus House, First Baptist Church, Feeding America, Open Hearts Ministries, YMCA, Haverhill Rotary, Greater Haverhill Foundation and Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce.
Bonds served in both the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve, a veteran of three overseas deployments for five combat operations. He participates in a weekly Veteran Coffee Social where he assists a network of veterans identify resources, supports and employment options available in the area. He also launched a Veteran group at North Shore Community College, helping to build camaraderie among the students. He continues to serve veterans daily driving them to job interviews, employment fairs and other appointments.
Donnelly served in the Navy for more than a decade and now works as a Haverhill police officer. While raising her children as a single-parent, she volunteers at the YMCA, spending several hours each week coaching youth floor hockey, and talks to students and educators about bullying and cyber-bullying at local schools, including Hill View Montessori.
Others recognized for their lifetime service to the community include Dudley Farquhar, Julian Jaramillo, Mary “Ollie” Brobst, John P. Lenotte, John Katsaros and Russell V. J. Chaput. Robert Wheeler Moore and Donnie Jarvis will also be thanked for their community service.
Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, will address the breakfast audience.
Haverhill Rotary’s Veterans Day Awards Breakfast takes place Thursday, Nov. 10, from 7:30 to 9:30, at Haverhill Golf and Country Club, 58 Brickett Lane. Tickets are $25. More information is available at haverhillrotary.com.