Employee Appreciation Program

What Is the Employee Appreciation Program (EAC)?

The mission of the Employee Appreciation Program is to acknowledge the importance of county employees to the organization's success and to give employees the tools needed to promote that success.

The Hunterdon County Employee Appreciation Committee was created for the purpose of developing and implementing a formal recognition program for County employees and to encourage supervisors and managers to exhibit a positive attitude toward employees and to demonstrate day-to-day appreciation to their staff and the contribution they make to the County.

The Committee meets monthly to discuss employee functions which can be held for county employees and, on an annual basis, votes on the nominations received in the previous six months.

Appreciation awards are presented to the recipients annually. The Committee plans and holds various functions throughout the year to give employees and their families a means to gather and socialize with fellow County employees from all departments.

Committee Members

  • Daniel Bush, Chairperson, Parks & Recreation
  • Greg Martoccio, Co-Chairperson, Election Board
  • Paige Wernoch, Treasurer, Purchasing
  • Lorraine Haley, Secretary, Senior Services
  • Tony Porto, Board of Taxation
  • Craig Evans, Parks & Recreation
  • Keith Fleming, Weights and Measures 
  • Bruce Fuller, Fire Safety
  • Beatrice Melnick, Sheriff's Office
  • Jennifer O'Sullivan, Health Department
  • Tadhgh Rainey, Health Department
  • Carrie Van Horn, Social Services
  • Francia Wright, Public Health Nursing
  • Laura McDevitt, Public Safety

Interested in Joining the Committee? View the committee recruitment form (PDF).

Employee Appreciation Awards

All employees may submit nominations. Nominees can be cited for, among other things, performing actions above and beyond their job duties, volunteering, or taking part in a function that benefits County employees or benefits County residents (for example American Cancer Society Relay for Life, American Heart Association Heart Walk, etc.); performing any type of community service to the residents of the County (saved a life; has helped make a difference in a person‘s life; etc.).

Any time a co-worker or fellow County employee performs an action that you feel deserves special recognition is the perfect opportunity for you to submit a nomination for that employee.

View the Nomination Form (PDF). The completed nomination forms should be returned to the attention of:

Dan Bush, Parks Division (Attention HCEAC)
P.O. Box 2900
Flemington, NJ 08822-2900

Note: 2023 Deadline for Nominations is December 8, 2023.

When nominating someone for an award, please be as specific and include as much detail as possible. The Employee Appreciation Committee members vote on each individual nomination received and their votes are based on the content of the nomination form, not on the number of nominations one employee may receive. Therefore, the more information you include in your nomination stating the reason for the nomination will assist the Committee in their voting process.


Award Recipients


2022

  • Herbert Dekorte, Sheriff Officer
  • Hannah Pitchford, Account Clerk
  • Barbara Metzger, Program Development Specialist
  • Debra Reed, Park Naturalist

2020

  • Cynthia Gould: Social Worker - Department of Human Services, Division of Social Work Services
  • Shannon Kiernan, Family Service Worker
  • Laura McDevitt, Senior Account Clerk
  • Ashley Engle, Operations Manager
  • Jared T. Biondi, Extension Services, Clerk ,
  • Alex Ceselka, Maintenance Repairer

2018

  • Thomas Zavaglia, Roads and Bridges Supervisor
  • Joel Van Horn, Senior Mail Room Clerk
  • Hugo Marin, Bilingual Family Service Worker
  • Debbie Herrighty, Housing Assistance Technician
  • Michelle Masciola, Director of Staff Operations, Prosecutor’s Office
  • Maria Dulmer, Sheriff’s Officer
  • Charles Dinatale, Sheriff’s Officer

2014

  • Sandra Ford, Sheriff's Office
  • Jim Molinaro, Prosecutors Office
  • Linda Rifino, Emergency Services
  • Linda Yasunas, Public Safety

2012

  • Ken Bogen, Planning
  • Paul Fandel, Garage Services
  • Sharon Burham, Communications
  • Shu-Chen Chiang, Public Health Nursing
  • Scott Crabtree, Senior, Disabilities & Veterans Services
  • Whitney Farkus, Social Services
  • Edward Hahola, Communications

2010

  • Dante Faraone, Jr. - Road, and Bridges
  • Don Donnelly - Parks and Recreation
  • Pat Masterson - Road and Bridges
  • Shane Fryer - Parks and Recreation

2007

  • Jake Cole, Jr. - Roads and Bridges
  • Pia Rey-Doklan - Senior Services
  • Warren Schultz - Parks Department
  • Brian Stout - Buildings and Grounds
  • Bob Fandel - Road Department
  • Christine Hammerstone - Social Services

2005

  • Emily Johnston - Parks and Recreation
  • Craig Evans - Parks and Recreation
  • Edward McCaffrey - Parks and Recreation
  • Beth Craighead - Parks and Recreation
  • Betty Kenny - Senior Services
  • Janet Kerr - Prosecutor's Office

2003

  • Carl Schottman - Central Printing & Mail
  • Philip Fleming - Roads and Bridges
  • MARTIN BUSH - Roads and Bridges
  • Leonard Blanco - Buildings and Maintenance
  • Kenneth Sutphen - Roads and Bridges
  • Megan Youells - Finance
  • Scott Bartok - Buildings and Maintenance
  • Sonia Gonzalez - Parks and Recreation
  • Harry Holzer - Buildings and Maintenance
  • Karla Lamendola - County Clerk's Office
  • John Strauss - Communications
  • Keith Wieder - Roads and Bridges

2001

  • Paul Bolanowski - Parks and Recreation
  • Christine Dey - Social Services
  • Beverly Hall - Emergency Management
  • Nancy Kreger - Housing
  • William Robinson - Roads and Bridges
  • Dennis Tillett - Buildings and Maintenance
  • George Glashoff - Utilities Authority
  • Rhonda Kelly - Administration
  • Raymond Rule, Jr. - Purchasing
  • Gregory Schulze - Roads and Bridges
  • Jack Wright - Health
  • Linda Zdepski - Library

1999

  • Robert Bush, Jr. - Buildings and Maintenance
  • Carol Bodder - Parks and Recreation
  • Faye Carling - Social Services.
  • Walter Colombo, III - Roads and Bridges
  • Mickael Jakubowsky - Central Mail and Printing
  • Harry J. Sheppard, III - Emergency Services
  • Susan Chambers - Office on Aging
  • Thomas Lizzi - Parks and Recreation
  • Floyd Saums - County Library
  • Carol Michael - Management Information Systems
  • John Van Nuys - Health
  • Colleen McKay-Wharton - Public Health Nursing



2023

  • Lauren Applegate, Sheriff Officer
  • Michelle Hendrix, Keyboarding Clerk 
  • Lisa Mena, Deputy Clerk
  • Henry Wieczorek, Principal Engineer
  • Amy Jo Trimmer, Sr. MIS Technician
  • Lindsay Heller, Deputy Clerk to the Board

2019

  • Lupe Fowler, Confidential Aide 
  • Michelle Hendrix, Senior Clerk Transcriber 
  • Jeffery Baker, Senior Carpenter – 
  • Jacqui Rochelle, Senior Technician, MIS 

2017

  • Amy Henriksen, Social Worker, Aging, Adult Protective Services
  • Jason Lawrence, Road Repairer 1, Public Works
  • James Martin, Assistant County Engineer, Public Works
  • Cindy Mundy, Division of Parks and Recreation
  • Greg Vaccarino, Public Health Investigator, Division of Health
  • Frank Veneziale, Public Safety Telecommunicator, Department of Public Safety and Health Services

2015

  • Patrick Eckard, Parks and Recreation
  • Robin Krog, Social Services

2013

  • Pamela Bowlby, Parks and Recreation
  • James Janci, Prosecutors Office
  • Kathleen Shive, Prosecutors Office
  • Dawn Solari, Prosecutors Office
  • Jason Strauss, Parks and Recreation
  • Greg Szwec, Social Services
  • Amy Yashkas, Corrections

2011

  • Pamela Jamele, Central Printing & Mail
  • Christian Legere, Social Services
  • Christopher Botzan, Garage Services
  • Arlene (Kay) Strain, Human Services
  • Brayden Fahey, Emergency Management
  • Kristen Larsen, Prosecutor's Office

2008

  • Crystal Barnes - Planning Board
  • Rich Booth - Parks and Recreation
  • Susan Depatto - Senior Services
  • Scott Howarth - Parks and Recreation
  • Jim Thatch - Library
  • Cathy Zahn - Human Services

2006

  • LUKE BONHAM - Roads and Bridges
  • MARGARET CONROY - Parks and Recreation
  • JENN FUHRI - Roads and Bridges
  • DAN JOHNSON - Information Technology
  • JEANNE LAUBER - Tax Board
  • WILLIAM TARRANT - Youth Facility

2004

  • Emily Amon - Parks and Recreation
  • Johnathan Crawley -Youth Facility
  • Liz Fulmer - Parks and Recreation
  • Carrie Moore - Information Technology
  • Nancy Ormando - Library
  • Thomas Sheppard - Parks and Recreation

2002

  • Jacob Cole, Sr. - Roads and Bridges
  • Lois Deats - Library
  • Mark Robinson- Roads and Bridges
  • Lynda Ruggiero - Buildings and Maintenance
  • Barbara Berberian - Prosecutor's Office
  • Earl Ray Eichlin - Roads and Bridges
  • Thomas Leone - Roads and Bridges
  • Bryan Manning - Parks and Recreation
  • Scott Segreaves - Roads and Bridges
  • Suzanne Vamos - Buildings and Maintenance

2000

  • Robby Bennett - Roads and Bridges
  • Daniel Bush - Roads and Bridges
  • Michael Pasqua - Central Mail and Printing
  • Douglas Pursell - Roads and Bridges
  • DEBRA GILMARTIN - Engineering
  • Joyce Rotella - Buildings and Maintenance
  • Ryan Ziemba - Roads and Bridges
  • Jacqui Rochelle - Information Technology
  • Buff Barr- County Library
  • Joseph Schellhorn - Roads and Bridges
  • Marianne Smith - Rutgers Cooperative Extension
  • L. Claire Grissett - Senior Health Services, Health Department