Elmont civic leader honored

By Matt Hampton

Town of Hempstead officials gathered to celebrate Black History Month Feb. 23 by recognizing the contributions of local African-American community leaders.

Supervisor Kate Murray and City Councilman Dorothy Goosby (D-West Hempstead) were joined by former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. in handing out citations to a dozen community members.

“I am delighted that many residents of the Town of Hempstead joined together to reflect upon and appreciate all the contributions that African-Americans have made to this country,” Murray said to the crowd at the Nathan Bennet Pavilion in Hempstead Town Hall. “African-Americans have left an indelible and profoundly positive imprint on all facets of our community and nation, from spiritual enrichment, the sciences and culture to education and politics.”

One man who has made a clear imprint on his community, Chester Collins of Elmont, received a Town of Hempstead Employee Community Service Award, one of the biggest awards of the day. Collins was recognized by the town for more than 30 years of service to Elmont, as a former president of the Parkhurst Civic Association and the Community Coalition Council, and as the commanding officer of Elmont’s branch of the Nassau County Auxiliary Police.

Collins, who could not be on hand to accept the award, was decidedly modest in an interview. “I don’t know what I’ve done,” he said. “I think it’s just for the hard, day-in, day-out work to make sure that my community is as vibrant and wonderful as it can be.”

Collins is one of the many faces that give Elmont a reputation, as he put it, as a “squeaky wheel” in Nassau County. He credited that to the fact that people in the area tend to be very civic-minded, and are willing to put the needs of their neighbors and friends above their own.

Over the years, he said, he has witnessed countless problems in the community, all of which were solved with a combination of communication and elbow grease. There is nothing as effective for getting things done, Collins added, as picking up the phone and talking to neighbors and local leaders.

In fact, he said, even when he was confined to a bed during a recent hospital stay, he took it upon himself to call around to make sure the streets in his neighborhood were being plowed properly. “That’s the kind of attitude I have,” Collins said. “Somebody’s got to be responsible. If you take action, you get reaction.”

Since he was young, he said, he has always been the type of person to get involved. As a 10-year-old in the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica, he started a boys’ club with the help of a local police officer after noticing that the girls in his neighborhood had a club, but many of the boys had nowhere to go.

Collins did the same thing as a teenager, gathering his friends to form a sports club to give other people his age something to do during the evenings and on weekends. “It’s something that’s been in me from an early age,” he said. “You have to give back to your community. You don’t just sit back and watch and don’t do anything about it.”

Collins said he hoped his example would encourage others to stand up and make the most of their talents to help their communities. After 30 years of service, he said, he would like to see someone younger take the reins in Elmont.

“I don’t want to be too involved now — let somebody else step up to the plate,” he said. “They have a lot of experience that they can draw from here, but the young people have to step up.”

Comments about this story? MHampton@

liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.