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And The Winners Are!...

The Immigrant Essay Contest

Center Players is proud to announce the winners of the essay contest designed to honor local immigrants and promote the diversity of Monmouth County and surrounding areas. "We want to highlight those who overcame the challenges of immigration and are now living 'The American Dream'," says the show's director, Bernice Garfield-Szita. Center Players looked for "compelling stories that detailed the challenges and successes of acclimating to a new country," says Garfield-Szita. Stories were entered by mail, fax, and on-line through centerplayers.org.

Each of the five winners received two tickets from Center Players to a Friday night performance of "The Immigrant," with dinner for two provided by Tratorria Portobello at 24 South Street in Freehold. They will be honored and their story featured at the respective Friday night performance and on the Center Players Website.

Alice Shain, as an 8-year-old in 1929 Hungary, felt compelled to stand on a line to sign a paper she did not understand at the time. When she got to the front of the line, she noticed that others signed names of family members and so she did the same. This innocent intuition turned out to be the family's ticket to freedom in America. Alice and her family are from Manalapan.

Felix Danon was 24 and single when he emigrated from The Republic of Sudan by way of Greece. Among his fondest memories are that first glimpse of the New York skyline upon arrival and the hunt for his first job. That clerking job ultimately led to him becoming President of the same firm many years later. He is now semi-retired and lives in Manalapan with his wife of 40 years.

Rosa Hart decided as a 10 year old in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil that she would live in America. She saved for many years, including gifts of jewelry she had made into bracelets carrying the stones that were her "fall-back plan." She arrived alone in 1980 and those stones gave her a start. Her determination took her from a dreamy 10 year old to an Executive Assistant at one of the largest firms in the country. Today she is married and lives in Denville.

Clara Domb arrived from Argentina in New York 10 days before the Beatles did. She came with her family and spoke no English. She studied hard in school, and devoured the Encyclopedia Britannica that her father had bought. She excelled in school, ultimately receiving a fellowship in Comparative Literature at Columbia University followed by a Masters of Arts and a Masters of Philosophy. After a career in finance, she now teaches. Clara resides in Manalapan.

Vincenzo Pascarella and his brother Thomaso left Italy to seek a better life for their families. Vincenzo and Thomaso were separated at Ellis Island and Thomaso was sent to Argentina leaving Vincenzo alone in New York to try to achieve the dream they both had dreamed. He married another Italian Immigrant, Imaculata, who arrived by herself at the age of 15 and they had 10 children. These children, raised with the goal of providing even better lives for their children, have gone on to become teachers, lawyers, opticians, stockbrokers, accountants, homemakers and upstanding citizens with children of their own. And the legacy lives on.