And the winners are ... everyone. That's how it seemed on Monday evening, Jan. 26, when the Inaugural Dinner of Winning Beyond Winning, a new charitable organization, was held at Annabella Restaurant on Main Street.
        On hand to help kick off the event were: the evening's honored guest, Vito Antuofermo, former undisputed middleweight boxing champion of the world; Rosendo "Rusty" Torres, former major leaguer with the Yankees, Angels, Indians, White Sox and Royals, and co-founder of the organization; Arthur Mercante, world famous boxing referee; Bryan Lambe, scout with the Texas Rangers; Hon. John Venditto, supervisor of the Town of Oyster Bay; Hon. Salvatore B. Pontillo, Nassau County Legislator; and Hon. Joseph Trudden, mayor of the Village of Farmingdale.
        Winning Beyond Winning is the brain-child of Torres and local resident Tom Sabellico. It is a New York not-for-profit corporation whose purposes include:
        Providing assistance to athletes at all levels in dealing with life outside the world of active competition;
        Helping athletes develop second careers beyond sports;
        Helping athletes steer clear of dependency on drugs, alcohol or other chemical substances;
        Conducting clinics for coaches, parents and players; and
        Providing speakers to schools and youth groups.
        The organization, which was formed only a month ago, plans to begin its work by having former and current professional athletes speak to students and youth groups. It is the intention of Winning Beyond Winning to provide those speakers free of charge to the schools and youth groups by raising funds at dinners such as their Inaugural Dinner, which was very successful. With the funds raised at their first dinner, Winning Beyond Winning will be making a presentation to the students at Howitt Junior High School in Farming- dale, and in the Miller Place School District in March of this year.
        At the inaugural Dinner, Sabellico introduced the program and explained that it became obvious to him and to Toms that "a need existed to help talented athletes to get beyond seeing themselves as worthy only if they were winning on the field or in the ring or on the ice. It became obvious to those of us who have coached and to those of us who played that these individuals can be shown the way to winning beyond winning - that beyond winning on the field of sport they can, and must, become winners in life - good citizens, good parents, good spouses, free from dependency on drugs and/or alcohol and free from the mental pressure that they are either athletes or are not worth being alive."
        The full house at Annabella's enjoyed a delicious dinner while watching the full 15 rounds of Antuofermo's title defense against Marvin Hagler. After the dinner Mercante, Torres and Antuofermo each spoke about being a champion in the world of sport, and then making it in life after sports.
        Sabellico introduced the board of directors of Winning Beyond Winning: Frank Borracci, Chase Manhattan Bank; Ralph Caruso, deputy commissioner of Senior Citizen Affairs, Nassau County; Robert Doyle, teacher; Patrick A. O'Brien, attorney; and Robert Sabellico, engineer; and also announced the addition of Donna Fla- menbaum, physical education teacher and coach, as the newest member of the board of directors.
        The organization's next dinner will be held on Monday evening, March 30, at Annabella. The guest of honor has not yet been announced, but Sabellico said it will be a baseball theme this time out. Tickets are $35 each and are limited to 60. Tickets will not be available at the door. Those interested in this program or in the dinner can contact Winning Beyond Winning through Tom Sabellico at 12 Second Avenue, Farmingdale, NY, or can give him a call at 516.370.5552.

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