22 May ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2026 ESSEX COUNTY SENIOR CITIZEN LEGACIES WRITING CONTEST
Published on May 22, 2026
Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. and the Division of Senior Services announced the four winners and four honorable mention recipients in the 2026 Essex County Senior Citizen Legacies Writing Contest during an awards luncheon at the Bilal Beasley Community Center in Essex County Irvington Park in Irvington on Friday, May 22nd. The Legacies Writing Contest encourages Essex senior citizens to write essays about the people and events that have influenced their lives.
“Our Senior Citizen Legacies Writing Contest is a unique way for our older population to share their life’s stories and describe the people and events that helped to shape their lives,” DiVincenzo said. “Our seniors’ stories make you laugh and touch your heart. They provide us with a different perspective on historical events and what our society was like,” he added.
Selected as winners of the 2026 Senior Citizen Legacies Writing Contest are Linda Russell from Upper Montclair who wrote “Living My Dreams,” Ottilie Brechner Bello from Short Hills who wrote “A Love Story for the Age(d),” Judyann Affronti from Glen Ridge who wrote “Class of 1967: An Age of Innocence” and Nanette LaCapra Rotonda from Belleville who wrote “An Angel Among Us.”
Receiving honorable mentions are Carole Sullivan from Essex Fells who wrote “From Newark to Broadway,” Alisa A. Piacenza from Bloomfield who wrote “Breathe!,” Jack Pignatello from Bloomfield who wrote “Who am I?” and Jeanne D’Haem from Short Hills who wrote “The Choice Not to Shoot.”
Montclair resident Linda Russell wrote “Living My Dreams,” which was selected as one of the winning stories. Ms. Russell writes about her early fascination with Montclair, opening a business in town and getting an apartment on Lorraine Avenue. She established a friendship with her landlord, Missy, who influenced her in making life decisions and following her dreams. When another apartment became available, Missy rented the space to Ms. Russell’s sisters. And when Missy moved to a nursing home, she sold the house to Ms. Russell, who has lived there for 52 years. “An inspiration, a friend, a mentor, a treasure, without whom I wouldn’t be who I am today. She gave me the greatest gift of all, a place in a world I had only dreamed of,” she wrote.
Short Hills resident Ottilie Brechner Bello wrote “A Love Story for the Age(d),” which was selected as one of the winning stories. Ms. Brechner Bello writes about the relationship she started with her boyfriend when she was 83 years old and he was 76 years old. They met through an on-line dating site and immediately fell in love. Their first date was a walk in Essex County South Mountain Reservation, and it did not take either of them long to say “I love you.” “It only took me 83 years to find the love of my life. It only took him 75,” she writes. “A love story for the aged, even if this story began when we were already aged. I am positive we would be just like this even if the story had begun 50 or 60 years ago,” she writes.
Glen Ridge resident Judyann Affronti wrote “Class of 1967: An Age of Innocence,” which was selected as one of the winning stories. Her story is about how life changed from the 1950s to the 1960s and how quickly inventions and events helped advanced society. “Tales of our past are ancient history to our children and pre-historic to our grandchildren,” she writes. “I celebrate the life we lived in, the music we danced to, the lesson we learned, the friends we loved and lost. I celebrate the tapestry world of experiences that shaped us into the people we are today with a lifetime of history and memories we’ll never outgrow,” she writes.
Belleville resident Nanette LaCapra Rotonda wrote “An Angel Among Us,” which was selected as one of the winning stories. Ms. LaCapra Rotonda writes about her mother Marietta and the impact she had during her almost 100 years of life. Marietta skipped two grades in elementary school and worked for the City of Newark and Newark Board of Education. Throughout her tenure, she was recognized for her professionalism, but also her caring nature and compassion. “Perhaps one of her greatest qualities was that of humility. She never, throughout her nearly 100 years, ever focused on herself or her many accomplishments. This was the legacy that she left us,” she writes.
Essex Fells resident Carole Sullivan wrote “From Newark to Broadway,” which received an honorable mention. When Ms. Sullivan was young, she took dancing classes at the Tarasoff Ballet School in Newark and knew that dancing was her passion. Her big break came when she was 16 years old and auditioned, and became, a member of the Radio City Rockettes. From there, her career took off and she performed in TV shows, Broadway shows, commercials and the Copacabana. Her career went full circle when she returned to Essex County and began teaching the next generations of dancers. “It is rewarding to know I have given back the upliftment I experienced when I put on that first pair of ballet shoes and stepped into the studio in Newark,” she writes.
Bloomfield resident Alisa A. Piacenza wrote “Breathe!,” which received an honorable mention. Ms. Piacenza writes about the emotions she feels after her 32-year-old son moved out of her house and the same feelings she has whenever she gives up pet dogs that she is fostering. No matter what you do, you have to put your feelings into it if you want to do a good job, and you will feel hurt because of the loss and emptiness you have afterward. Live moves forward and to get past these emotions, you have to “breathe,” according to Ms. Piacenza.
Bloomfield resident Jack Pignatello wrote “Who am I?,” which received an honorable mention. When he was 21 years old, Mr. Pignatello took photographs of four children playing in the old Central Railroad Terminal (which is now the Prudential Building) in Newark. He recently rediscovered the negatives in his attic and turned them into an exhibit at the Newark Public Library. “Who am I?” was the name of the exhibit because he did not have the names of the four children. However, Mr. Pignatello began to question himself about the photos and whether it was ethical to take them and then display them without the children’s permission. Who am I? referred more to Mr. Pignatello than the four boys in the photos.
Short Hills resident Jeanne D’Haem wrote “The Choice Not to Shoot” which received an honorable mention. During World War I, Ms. D’Haem’s grandfather was living in Belgium when the Germans invaded. He was identified as a spy and sent to a firing squad. Instead of shooting him, a German officer told him to run away. Fifty-four years later, Ms. D’Haem was in Somalia with the Peace Corps when there was a military coup. As she and other Peace Corps volunteers drove to the airport to escape, they were stopped at a roadblock. The officer there pointed a gun to Ms. D’Haem’s face and was about to shoot when a higher-ranking officer drove up and told them to let the volunteers go. “I was born because a man decided not to shoot my grandfather. The same thing happened to me a century later,” she wrote.
Sponsored by the Essex County Division of Senior Services, the Legacies Writing Contest was started in 1996 and was part of a national contest which encouraged senior citizens to discover the joys of writing while sharing their stories with others. Although the national contest was discontinued in 1998, the Essex County Division of Senior Services continued to sponsor the Legacies Writing Contest on a local level. Entries are judged on the writer’s ability to engage the reader with humor, emotional impact or rich descriptions. Winning stories were selected by a committee of volunteer judges and staff from the Essex County Division of Senior Services.
The Essex County Division of Senior Services offers a wide range of services to eligible Essex County senior citizens. The Division offers adult protective services, provides basic transportation services, administers adult day care centers, offers counseling services for caregivers, provides home delivered meals and offers visiting nurse services. For more information, please call 973-395-8375.
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