WAKEFIELD — Saturday night was a special one for the Think of Michael Foundation (TOM), which held its 6th Annual Trivia Night at the Four Points by Sheraton Wakefield Boston Hotel & Conference Center.
TOM’s Dick Dalton opened the formal program thanking attendees and others who support TOM, saying it’s because of them that the “foundation has never declined a qualified individual a sober home scholarship” and for helping the foundation “expand our scope of services.” He said he often wondered in the early years if the foundation was sustainable, but “because of you, we have had the funding available for us to truly make a difference.”
Dalton expressed his gratitude for premier sponsors Everett Bank, Chapters Recovery Center, North Suffolk Community Services and Kevin and Leslie McCafferty, as well as the Four Points Sheraton and Bob Priestly of Boston Audio Visual, “for all they do.”
He recognized the foundation’s board of directors for spending “countless hours” organizing the event and “working the many hours behind the scenes that aren’t obvious to the general public.
“It’s difficult to put into words how much Carmela and I and Stacey and Jamie and our grandchildren appreciate all that you do for the foundation and the Dalton and Cook families,” Dick Dalton said.
Jamie Dalton presented the Michael V. Dalton Making a Difference Award to retired Probation Officer Judy Lawler, a 30-year veteran of the Massachusetts Probation Service and former Assistant Chief Probation Officer of the Malden District Court. Lawler was instrumental in the creation of the Chelsea Drug Court Program, which has since expanded throughout the state. She currently serves on the Changing Lives Through Literature working group committee and is also on the board of directors of the New England Association of Recovery Court Professionals.
Jamie Dalton said Lawler’s legacy “cannot be measured by credentials alone. It’s personal.” He said he worked with Lawler on the Malden Court Recovery Team and remembers something she said to him shortly after the foundation was formed, while he was in recovery, that made a difference in his life.
“She said you are going to make your brother proud, that this work is important. In that moment she gave me something I didn’t even know I needed — hope, belief and direction,” Jamie Dalton said.
Lawler said she was honored to be recognized and commended Jamie Dalton for “always being there” and for always “offering hope.”
“Thank you for walking side by side with us,” Lawler said.
She thanked the foundation for “providing hope, inspiration and empowerment.”
Dick Dalton said the Making a Difference award is for “great people doing great things… and the many people who are working to make a difference helping those in recovery succeed.”
He said Lawler has been a “force in changing how judges and probation officers address people who are dealing with addiction.”
“She is very committed,” Carmela Dalton said. “She’s definitely passionate about what she does.”
This year, committee members had a curveball thrown at them just hours before the event started when they learned that Emmy Award-winning radio and television personality and former Lynnfield resident Billy Costa was unable to serve as guest auctioneer.
Dick Dalton reached out to Davio’s owner Steve DeFillippo who said he had the perfect person in mind — television sports anchor Chris Collins.
“I do a little bit of this with being on television for all those years,” Collins said. “There’ve been a lot of calls over the years with great charities like this one. I really like to do as much as I can, especially being from West Peabody.”
He urged the crowd to “get involved (and) get engaged.
“We only have 10 items, so I only need you for a short period of time — 10 minutes of pure, unadulterated energy, high octane. We have to want to do this. We got to want to help this fund (and) want to be here for this amazing cause.”
Collins worked the room like a seasoned pro, challenging competing bidders to up the ante. By the time the dust settled, more than $11,400 had been raised.
The most spirited bidding came on the final three items — a full-day Morning Tauk Charters fishing charter for six out of Gloucester ($2,200), The Ultimate Party Rental Package for 50 including tent donated by 781 Tents, inflatables from Lynnfield Party Rentals, Chicken & the Pig food truck donated by owner Guy Ciolfi and Cool Cow Ice Cream truck donated by the Micieili family ($2,200) and a hands on gnocchi cooking class and four-course gourmet meal for eight at any of the Davio’s locations, which topped the charts at $2,500.
“We are very thrilled with the number of people who come out and support us every year,” Stacey Dalton Cook said. “It is a tough time of year with people having such busy schedules with graduations and high school tournament games, so we appreciate everyone’s support, for sure.”
Cook said the foundation’s mission is always evolving.
“This year, we gave eight Lynnfield High scholarships. They recognize perseverance, but even though it doesn’t exactly match the mission, we feel it’s important to give back to the community that supports us.”
“This is for kids who have really persevered after having struggles in their lives,” Carmela Dalton said. “They’re sometimes very sad stories.”
The Dalton family established the foundation after Dick and Carmela’s son Michael, a hockey and football standout at St. Sebastian’s School who went on to star at Colby College, died in 2018 at the age of 39 from an opiate overdose while in outpatient treatment.
The foundation provides financial aid in the form of scholarships to recovering addicts to help defray the cost of living at sober houses as they transition from rehabilitation to the real world and also provides scholarships to high school students. The foundation has since expanded its mission to other endeavors, including job assistance. In recognition of their important work and positive impact, Carmela and Dick Dalton were honored as Essex Media Group’s 2019 Lynnfield Persons of the Year.
