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BiggerLawrence Mayor honors 26 Dominicans for leadership and achievements
Massachusetts.- Brian A. DePeña, mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, honored 26 Dominican personalities for their contributions across various fields during a ceremony Thursday at the Omni Hotel. The mayor highlighted the growing influence of the Dominican community in the Boston area as a testament to their dedication and hard work.
The honorees received a proclamation and a copy of Brian A. De Peña: Biography of a Leader. Among those recognized were Senator Carlos Gómez, maestro José Antonio Molina, Frank Elías Rainieri, athletes David “Big Papi” Ortiz and Nelson Cruz, journalists Alicia Ortega, Marianne Cruz, and Zoila Puello, and artists including Milly Quezada, Fernando Villalona, Grupo Barak, Gary de Andariego, and Saúl Mena.
Special recognition was given to Dominican journalist Miguel Franjul, whose 56-year career earned him praise as one of the most respected and trusted voices in the country. Other distinguished honorees included Carolina Mejía, Raymond Rodríguez, Junot Díaz, James “Wally” Brewster, Selineé Méndez, and Carlos Bonilla.
Good news coming from Lawrence. The honoraries deserve the recognition. It is noteworthy the majority of Lawrence’s population is Hispanic at about 82%, 48,000 of them are Dominicano. It is the largest Dominican population in the US outside of that of New York City whose number is 702,000.
The community of Lawrence changed. There was a time when a large segment of its population was French Canadian workers residing there to work the large textile mills. Nowadays the mills have been converted to manufacturing and housing.