Vince Pupillo & Grace Gordon Capture Dellecave Awards

Seniors Vincent Pupillo and Grace Gordon are Huntington High School’s recipients of this year’s Guy “Butch” Dellecave Award, which is presented to one graduating male and female from each Suffolk high school who possess “outstanding accomplishments on the field of play, in the classroom and within the community.”

The awards were presented last Sunday morning during a festive breakfast at Villa Lombardi in Holbrook, which drew of crowd of more than 600.

Guy “Butch” Dellecave was on the faculty of the Connetquot School District for 30 years. He was also one of the top rated basketball officials in Suffolk and the state and directed the Smithtown basketball summer league for 35 years. One of the main proponents of the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame, he founded the Dellecave Education Institute for Professional Development, which provided classes, workshops and seminars for administrators, teachers and coaches. Mr. Dellecave passed away suddenly on August 27, 2000.

The 26th annual awards program recognized 106 seniors from across Suffolk. The Dellecave Awards are presented by The Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk, Inc. and the Butch Dellecave Foundation, Inc. The award recipients were chosen on the basis of outstanding athletic ability as well as having displayed exceptional character and integrity.

During the breakfast, master of ceremonies Robert Schwender requested that each of the award recipients stand up and hug their parents for all they have done for the teenagers.

Vincent Pupillo

Huntington High School senior Vicent Pupillo has been an exceptional student, athlete and leader over the past four years, serving as a remarkable role model for classmates and teammates of all ages.

Mr. Pupillo said that “The key to my success has been my ability to balance the various activities I am apart of while playing three sports. I’ve enjoyed the following aspects of my high school career most; being a part of many different clubs/sports that has allowed me to make a ton of new friends and meet faculty I otherwise wouldn't have met.”

The teenager has excelled in football and wrestling, leading the Blue Devils into the Suffolk Division II football playoffs and capturing All-County honors in wrestling. He has performed cello in the Huntington High School chamber orchestra and received a Gold rating for NYSSMA Majors.

A member of Huntington’s National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, Social Studies Honor Society and Tri-M Music Honor Society, Mr. Pupillo’s weighted academic grade average exceeds 95.

Mr. Pupillo’s charitable endeavors include collecting a substantial amount of food several times a year for Huntington’s hungry; being chosen by his peers and serving as a Natural Helper, confidentially assisting classmates as the work their way through complicated personal and family issues; assisting with the annual Long Island Alzheimer’s Disease Assn.’s golf outing and volunteering at St. Patrick’s Church in Huntington with its charitable activities.

Mr. Pupillo intends to study either business or engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Grace Gordon

People. That’s what motivates Huntington High School senior Grace Gordon on any given day. She loves people. All kinds of people. People of every race, nationality and socio-economic group. The teenager is a three-sport athletic star for the Blue Devils and a spectacular student academically, but while she understands she has responsibilities in the classroom and in the athletic arena, she never forgets her real purpose in life is to help those who need it. Those who aren’t in a position to give her a trophy. Those who don’t have a spotlight on them.

Ms. Gordon has captained the Huntington basketball and lacrosse teams, won awards in all three and helped lift each of them into the Suffolk playoffs, winning the county and Long Island titles with the Blue Devil lacrosse team. But while she works hard to achieve on the field and courts and she is proud of every achievement she can call her own, it’s her work behind the scenes and away from adoring crowds that carries the most meaning for the senior.

As an active member and volunteer with Friends of the Huntington Station Latin Quarter, Ms. Gordon has participated in initiatives involving community development, neighborhood revitalization, cultural preservation, youth enrichment activities, safe streets and education programs and in the promotion of unity and respect of neighbors. Her involvement in the organization has extended to day-long community clean-ups with her teammates and the collection, wrapping and distribution of Christmas gifts for financially challenged families.

A National History Day contest Long Island regional finalist in 2023 and 2024, Ms. Gordon is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Honor and a volunteer with Huntington’s Key Club and Latin Club. Her work with the Key Club has resulted in about 200 pints of blood being collected over the past four years and well over $100,000 raised for those suffering from pediatric cancer.

The chief executive officer of her Virtual Enterprise business course firm at Huntington High School, Ms. Gordon is a member of the National Honor Society, Latin Honor Society and English Honor Society.

Ms. Gordon has a weighted academic grade average in excess of 100. She intends to study economics while playing lacrosse at Lafayette College.