Winning the Day

47th Annual “Pop/Joe” golf fundraiser brings industry together on Long Island for a good time and a good cause. 

photos courtesy of T. Bruce MacKinnon

With two caddies per foursome and paired with top executives from Vantage, CEO Ken Dietz and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ken Blanch, ELEVATOR WORLD President T. Bruce MacKinnon and his son, Harbour, felt very welcome during the 47th annual “Pop” Frohlinger/Joe Marchese Memorial Invitational Golf Tournament at the historic Brookville Country Club on Long Island, New York, on September 26. Furthermore, MacKinnon said their group played fantastic golf, with many memorable and excellent shots by all. The MacKinnons of Mobile, Alabama, were among 141 golfers who attended the popular event both from the NYC metropolitan area and far beyond. Organizers Liberty Elevator Co. President Vinny Moscato and Joel Frohlinger, Pop Frohlinger’s grandson and a consultant at Monitor Elevator Products, LLC, and Innovation Industries, Inc., observe it is far and away the largest fundraiser for the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation (EESF). This year, the event (fondly known as the Pop/Joe) raised approximately US$45,800 for the Foundation, bringing the grand total over the past 20 years to well over US$700,000. Frohlinger said: 

“The outing started as a fun get-together for a group of elevator guys who originally donated the money raised to the National Kidney Foundation and a few other charities over the years. When the EESF was started, Gene, my dad, said, ‘Pop and Joe would be so proud if we gave back to the industry by donating outing proceeds to the Foundation!’” 

The MacKinnons arrived early and stayed late, as Harbour was intent on seeing how he fared in the various raffle drawings. Frohlinger and his team arrived even earlier and stayed later. They got to the club at around 6 a.m. to set up and did not leave until after 10 p.m. “It was a very long day,” Frohlinger said. Thankfully, the weather could not have been better, with bright sunshine, a light wind and temperatures rising from the low 60s in the morning to the 70s in the afternoon. 

Besides great golf, highlights of the day included a delicious brunch and lunch on the course and a “phenomenal” dinner and cocktail hour provided by the club. Attesting to the popularity of the dinner, many companies brought multiple guests. Yonkers, New York-based D&D Elevator, an American Elevator Group (AEG) company, for example, had nearly 30 people on its guest list, including family members of this year’s Pop/Joe honoree, Nunzio Meccariello (see sidebar). Course contests such as Beat the Pro and Shot for a Set (to win a set of TaylorMade^® irons) proved popular, as did a 50/50 “split the pot” and other raffles. Doug Considine of Long Island-based Morgan Elevator Co. Ltd. was the lucky winner of the grand raffle prize: an 85-in. TV sponsored by Vantage. Ten additional TVs, tablets, laptops, a drone, a full set of TaylorMade clubs, 20 assorted other clubs, earbuds, speakers, sound boards and other prizes totaling nearly US$25,000 were also handed out. 

The event (fondly known as the Pop/Joe) raised approximately US$45,800 for the EESF, bringing the grand total over the past 20 years to well over US$700,000.

In all, nearly 50 companies (such as almost all the NYC heavy hitters) were represented, including MEI-Total Elevator Solutions of Mankato, Minnesota; Schumacher Elevator Co. of Denver, Iowa; The Peelle Co., headquartered in Ontario, Canada; Canton Elevator Inc. of Canton, Ohio; AEG; insurer Hub International; and TK Elevator. NYC area companies represented included Benfield Electric and Elevator Supply of Mount Vernon, New York; Times Square-headquartered Champion Elevator Corp.; Queens-headquartered Nouveau Elevator; Long Island City-based TEI Group; Vantage Elevator Solutions, headquartered in the Bronx; and Gotham Elevator Inspection Inc., based in Mamaroneck, New York. 

The event drew past National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC) board members and presidents, such as former NAEC presidents Bobby Shaeffer (1999-2000) and Moscato (2009-2010). Both Schaeffer and Moscato are also past Pop/Joe honorees. Suppliers came from all over the country.

Next year’s Pop Joe is planned on September 25, again at the Brookville Country Club. 

About This Year’s Honoree, Nunzio Meccariello

A native of Brooklyn who now lives in North Carolina with his wife, Natalie, Nunzio Meccariello is a true American success story. He and his family immigrated from Italy to Brooklyn, New York, when he was only 9. After learning to speak English and assimilating into a new way of life, Meccariello landed his first “job” working for free for his father — who wanted to keep the boy out of trouble — at an Italian bodega. Showing initiative, the young Meccariello soon secured paying gigs as a butcher’s assistant, a grocery store worker and a security guard. After graduating from a vocational high school with a focus on electrical training, he started work at Con Edison as a splicer’s helper, earning US$3.25 an hour. With the help of a friend’s father, Meccariello got a job as a helper at Knudson Elevator Corp. in Long Island City. After only four years in the trade, in 1976 he started his own company — Mark IV Elevator Corp. — with two other mechanics. Mark IV closed in 1980, but Meccariello, being a talented mechanic, had no problem finding work with other companies as a supervisor always willing to mentor younger mechanics. Other titles in Meccariello’s long career include QEI, NYC licensed agency director and D&D secretary/treasurer. Meccariello joined forces with D&D Elevator in 1984, working in troubleshooting, modernization, repair and field supervision. In 1995, he was appointed D&D vice president, leading all field departments and helping run day-to-day operations. He remained a D&D officer until his retirement in May 2021.