STANDING Brooklyn’s Biggest Booster
Wedding wishes for CB13 manager
58 COURIER LIFE, MAY 3–9, 2019 M BR B G
“Keep on Believing,” and is working
on several projects.
The youngster will set an example
for future performers to come, according
to the awards
o r g a ni z at ion’s
leader.
“Nominees like
JAC are setting
the standard for
the new upcoming
young performers
in the entertainment
industry,”
said Alitzah Wiener
Dallas. “It is
an incredible achievement to be selected
among the best from the 13,000
entries we received this year.”
— Kevin Duggan
CONEY ISLAND
A big congratulation to the district
manager of Coney Island’s Community
Board 13, Eddie Mark, on his
marriage last month to Anna Zhao,
who teaches Mandarin to middle
and high school students at Newark
Academy in the distant land of New
Jersey.
The pair tied the knot in front of
more than 190 family and friends on
March 9 at Pacifi c Palace, on 55th
Street at Eighth Avenue in Sunset
Park, after just six months of dating.
The ceremony was chock-full of cultural
traditions from the duo’s shared
Chinese heritage, including a traditional
tea ceremony and a nine-course
Chinese feast, Mark said.
After meeting through mutual
friends, the lovebirds
had their
fi rst date on
Deno’s Wonder
Wheel in
the People’s
P l a y g r o u n d
last September,
during the
last fi reworks
display of the
summer season,
according
to Mark. The
groom popped
the question on the Wonder Wheel just
two months later, on Zhao’s birthday,
and the couple promptly began planning
the details of their marriage, the
groom said.
Mark added that the whirlwind romance
came as a complete surprise,
and that he and his new bride look
forward to starting their own family
soon.
“If someone told me in August
2018 that I would fall in love, be engaged,
and get married in the next six
months, I would have told them they
were crazy,” he said. “We are excited
in seeing what the future holds for
the both of us. We would like to start a
family and pass down our culture and
traditions.”
Standing O wishes the couple an
eternity of health and happiness together.
— Julianne McShane
WILLIAMSBURG
He stole the show!
Three cheers to Williamsburg
child actor Jose Antonio Carrera,
who won the Best Young Actor award
for a short fi lm at the fourth annual
Young Entertainer Awards in California
on April 7.
Carrera, 15, won the award for his
part in the short “Swinging into
Action” at the ceremony at Warner
Brothers Studios in Burbank, beating
more than 13,000 other entries,
along with more than 50 other winners
in categories, such as fi lm, television,
theatre, voice over, and the
web.
The pint-sized thespian, also known
as JAC, was born in Kings County and
knew from the age of 4 that he wanted
to be a performer.
After taking part in a movie called
for “A Precious Life,” the Williamsburger
took his career full force at
11-years-old and starred in the fi lm he
garnered the award for, as well as the
web series “Facts of Life.”
He just wrapped up his latest indie
fi lm directed by his mother, called
SHEEPSHEAD BAY
Let’s hear it for the Bay Improvement
Group, which held its
26th annual BIG Oscars Awards
for Distinguished Community
Service on April 17.
Two police offi cers, a fi refi ghter,
and a car dealer were honored at the
event for their extraordinary dedication
to the community, said the
group’s president.
“We’re stingy about who we
give awards to, because we want it
to mean something. We think it’s
the highest community award out
there,” said Steve Barrison. “These
people are really outstanding community
members and neighbors.”
Police offi cers Thomas Hionas
and Richard Moore were given
trophies for their work in apprehending
a madman who bludgeoned
three people to death in a Sheepshead
Bay restaurant last January.
Hionas expressed gratitude for the
honor, but called it bittersweet.
“We accepted the award on behalf
of the three victims that died.
These were three hardworking people
in the community, and we accepted
the award in their honor,”
he said. “It was a great event, but we
obviously wish we were there under
better circumstances.”
Firefi ghter Michael Nicastro
was recognized for saving an unconscious
infant from a burning
building, said Barrison.
“He went up the ladder of a burning
building, and there was an infant.
He began giving the infant
mouth-to-mouth,” said Barrison.
“Usually those situations don’t end
well, but they were able to save the
baby.”
Bay Improvement handed out the
last trophy of the night to the owners
of Kings Automotive Group
for helping local organizations
with various charitable community
events, according to Barrison.
“You want to talk about a business
that supports the community,
there it is,” he said. “Anytime
we need help in the community,
they’re always there. They’ve been
a good neighbor, and a community
participate.”
So here’s to Bay Improvement
Group for a successful event, and
this year’s honorees for their outstanding
work in the community!
— Aidan Graham
BAY RIDGE
Top teacher
Standing O salutes Janet Batista,
an eighth-grade mathematics
teacher at St. Anselm’s Catholic
Academy in Bay Ridge, who
received an award earlier this
month for her commitment to her
students.
Batista was honored with an
Ignatian Educator Award at
an April 10 ceremony at Xavier
High School on the distant isle of
Manhattan after her former student,
Bryan McPadden — a current
Xavier freshman — penned
an essay about the spiritual and
academic impact that Batista had
on him in her class last year. Mc-
Padden wrote about how Batista
emphasized faith in her classroom
by leading her students in prayer
three times per day, and encouraged
McPadden’s interest in math
until it became one of his favorite
subjects.
McPadden’s essay was one of 26
— out of more than 260 that students
submitted — that resulted in teacher
awards at the 10th annual ceremony,
which recognized elementary and
middle school teachers who had impacts
on current Xavier students.
The award honors the founder
of the Jesuit order, St. Ignatius
Loyola, who emphasized the importance
of education to followers
of the faith.
Standing O congratulates both
Batista and McPadden on their
achievement.
— Julianne McShane
HONORED: From left, BIG President Steve Barrison, Offi cer Thomas Hionas, Offi cer
Richard Moore, Kings Auto Group rep Maria Trantino, Firefi ghter Michael Nicastro, and
BIG Vice President Jack Spadaro at the BIG Oscars on April 17.
Photo by Steve Solomonson
These local winners are a BIG deal