Ramapo PBA feeds seniors

Senior citizens came together Wednesday at Fred Eller American Legion Post—47 in Monsey for a traditional Thanksgiving meal cooked and served by Ramapo police officers and their families.

The event came of age Wednesday, with officers and seniors saying the 21st annual lunch was all about giving back.

“This is our way of giving back to you, who have done so much,” Ramapo Police Benevolent Association President Dennis Proctor told the audience of about 100 seniors. “It’s our honor to be able to serve this lunch for you.”

One of those people is Tom Dodrill of Sloatsburg, a Korean War veteran and retired New York City police officer who drove a group of Sloatsburg seniors to the event. One of his sons, Chris, is Ramapo’s DARE officer and he has known many of the officers involved in the event since they were children.

Dodrill served as scoutmaster in Sloatsburg for 28 years before handing off the duties to his son.

“People really look forward to this event,” he says, scanning the room, “and there are other people who should be here, but they won’t let anybody know they are in need.”

Seated nearby, Sloatsburg Senior Club President Judy Grady, who retired from the Suffern High School staff in 2003, says her group comes because they appreciate the officers’ work.

“We’re giving back to the police who help us, like Officer Mike Brown, who comes and checks on us and talks about identity theft,” she says.

Sisters Rose and Mary Nattini retired from the high school 16 years ago, but Rose Nattini says it doesn’t seem that long ago. “Think, young, stay young,” she says.

A lot of other seniors were feeling young, too, doing the Electric Slide with police officers’ children to the music of DJ Moira Box of Pomona. There was a raffle, and seniors got to take home centerpieces made by Erin O’Donnell’s Brownie Troop 40722.

Ramapo Officer Jim Mulroe, now on loan to an FBI task force on terrorism, has been in charge of the event for 20 years, which means his family has been involved too.

He has loads of stories from the early days, when many more people than expected would attend or the year that a door prize was given to the person who found a raffle ticket on the back of their chair. “The next year,” he says, “everyone who came in was checking out the seats before they would sit down.”

Daughter Kristen says the event is a family project. Like other PBA families, they cook at home the night before. “This is my first year coming here,” the State University of New York at Geneseo sophomore says, “but I’ve been making mashed potatoes and green bean casserole since I was six.”

Mulroe is handing off the coordination duties to Larry Cooperstein, now almost two years into his third career. He did a couple of years in information technology, he says, but before that he worked in a field that makes him a natural to take over the luncheon

He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in the'90s and worked in the field for a decade. He helped out last year to get a taste for the event. This year, Mulroe guided him in working with the two dozen families doing the prep, cooking and serving.Cooperstein hasn’t tampered with the traditional turkey, stuffing, gravy and fixings, but admits he may kick it up a bit in the future.