Local News - Everyone has a story: Mullica Township Contractor, 79, continues to put off retirement

Posted: Sunday, July 3, 2011 5:52 pm

Michelle Brunetti Post pressofAtlanticCity.com

brain aneurysm and suffered three heart attacks in the past two years. But Messina is hardly your average guy.

He says he will retire soon as a general contractor, specializing in slate and terra cotta roofs. He intended this roofing job to be his last — to make his doctor happy — but says he has a couple more regular customers to take care of first. Even after he retires, though, it isn’t likely he will sit still. The Korean War veteran, a medic who was injured in the war, now wants to focus on helping homeless and disabled veterans.

“I want to devote the rest of my life to Home Quest,” he said of the nonprofit organization that has announced it will build a 24-unit, low-income housing complex for veterans, called Tucker’s Walk, on Route 9 in Tuckerton. He’s project manager for that job, he said. Home Quest is a subsidiary of the nonprofit Community Quest, based in Egg Harbor Township.

Messina is the commander of American Legion Post 158 in Egg Harbor City and the vice commander for Atlantic County, he said. The lifelong golfer will also keep teaching golf to at-risk youth through First Tee of Greater Atlantic City.

Local’s essay a U.S. finalist

Ryan Ruggiero, 23, of Mays Landing, is one of 15 nationwide finalists chosen by the U.S. State Department in an essay contest to determine who will represent the U.S. in the 2011 UNESCO Youth Forum in Paris. The final winner will be announced soon, the State Department said. Ruggiero is a Peace Corps volunteer in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, with the Community HIV/AIDS Project. Her dad, John Ruggiero, lives in Mays Landing, and her mom, Erin Ruggiero, lives in Deptford, Gloucester County.

Forsythe volunteer honored

David Blood, of Mays Landing, is the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge’s Volunteer of the Year. He was honored last week at a dinner at Harbor Pines Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, a refuge spokesperson said. Blood has assisted at the refuge for more than four years and serves as president of the Friends of Forsythe, a group of about  230 members who volunteer in the retail store, provide birdwatching and nature walks and assist where needed. To volunteer, call 609-652-1665 or email sandy_perchetti@fws.gov.

Contact Michelle Brunetti Post: 609-272-7219 Michelle.Post@pressofac.com