Photos: Rockville Centre Mayor’s Golf Classic raises $66,000 for RVC Community Fund

In a display of generosity, the 36th annual Rockville Centre Mayor’s Golf and Dinner Classic, raised a record high of roughly $66,000 to benefit the village’s Community Fund, which has been helping residents in financial distress for more than three decades.

“The event was one of the most successful outings of all time thanks to the generosity of all of our neighbors who helped put up to the money to help those in the community,” Mayor Francis Murray said.

The annual event is held each September at the Rockville Links and is the primary source of support for the program, which has generated more than $1.9 million over the years to those in need of assistance. This year’s outing was sold out and thanks to the generous support of sponsors, netted about $66,000 including donations, sponsored raffles, goody bags and holes on the course.

In recognition of his decades of service to the community, this year’s Eugene J. Murray Outstanding Service Award was presented to Wayne Lipton. Having spent more than four decades in the village, Lipton has virtually run the gamut as an active participant in all facets of the community.

Lipton served as deputy mayor of the village for eight years under the late former Mayor Eugene Murray, whom the award is named after. He has served as the acting president and principal cellist of the South Shore Symphony Orchestra since 1991.

He was also a founding member of the Rockville Centre Education Foundation, past president of the Rockville Centre Guild for the Arts, a board member of the RVC Community Fund, former executive vice president of Central Synagogue — Beth Emeth, a past member of the Board of B’nai Sholom — Beth David, former chairman of the RVC Human Rights Commission, and a former member of the Rockville Centre Planning Board.

In July 2023, Lipton was appointed to the Molloy University Board of Trustees and currently serves as a member of the Mount Sinai South Nassau Board of Directors. He serves as the managing partner of Concierge Choice Physicians, a service and marketing company that helps primary care doctors provide more personalized care.

This year’s honoree, Mindy Roman, delivered a riveting speech that left the entire reception hall in stitches. Roman has served as the village’s chief prosecutor for about 16 years. She is an active member of the Nassau County Bar Association and works as a member of the law firm, Horing, Welikson, Rosen and Digrugilliers, where she specializes in landlord-tenant disputes. She is also a mentor to graduating South Side High School seniors and has performed stand-up comedy at numerous PTA fundraisers over the years.

In her speech, Roman highlighted the importance of the Community Fund and what it means to families in the community to help support it. She said that by raising money they help families in the village afford to pay their electric bill, keeping the lights on so that their children can do their homework at night and go to school the next day feeling good.

“I am so proud to live in a village that takes care of its own,” Roman said. “And I am so proud that we have all chose to support such a great charity.”