FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The Hamden Democratic Town Committee announced that it would hold a Democratic Party Spring Gala on Tuesday, April 12, 2011, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Cascade Banquet Facility, 480 Sherman Avenue, Hamden.  Tickets are $60 per person, or $600 for a table.

The guest speaker for the event will be Edward M. Kennedy, Jr., the son of the late Massachusetts US Senator, Edward M. Kennedy.  Edward M. Kennedy, Jr., is the president of the Marwood Group, a firm that advises corporations about health care and financial services.  He also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

The Democratic Party will also be honoring seven Hamden Democrats, who will be the first recipients of the Bernard Nitkin Hamden Distinguished Democrat Award. The award is named after the former Hamden Democratic Party treasurer, Bernard Nitkin, who passed away recently.  “Bernie Nitkin served as the Hamden Democratic Party treasurer for 58 years,” said Joseph McDonagh, Hamden Democratic Chair, “longer than anyone has held that office in the entire state.  It seemed fitting to name the award after Bernie.”

The 2011 honorees are: former Legislative Council member and former Hamden purchasing agent, Judi Kozak; former Legislative Council member, John Flanagan; former Board of Education chair and former State Representative, Nancy Beals; Raymond Sims, Sr.; former Hamden Mayor John Carusone; former Legislative Council member Tony Mentone; and former HDTC member Don Werner.

Also at the Gala, the Fourth Annual Gloria C. Sandillo Scholarship Award will be given to a high school senior from Hamden.  For more information, or for tickets, please visit the Democratic Party’s website, http://www.hamdendemocrats.com/, or call Joseph McDonagh at 203-676-6271.