2025 Person of the Year: Joe Featherston

By Katie McFadden

Time Magazine has their person of the year. Since 2021, The Rockaway Times has ours. In a community where so many people go above and beyond to make the world around them a little better, the choice was not easy. But after one name kept coming to mind, we decided to go with someone who could be named Person of the Year for the last three decades for their work in serving a special community within the peninsula and beyond, that may have otherwise gone overlooked. With St. Camillus as its home base, the Rockaway Special Olympics program, a sports and recreation program for people with special needs, has blossomed under the leadership of founder Joe Featherston for nearly 30 years, continuing to grow in numbers and in offerings even over the last year. And for that and much more he’s done for the community, Joe Featherston has proven to be beyond deserving of the title as The Rockaway Times’ 2025 Person of the Year.

It’s been a while since Joe Featherston has been recognized in a major way for his work with St. Camillus Special Olympics. After all, he already claimed the big local awards in the early 2000s, as one of the first Graybeards Dinner honorees and Deputy Grand Marshal for the Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day Parade. He’s also been awarded the Borough President’s Declaration of Honor Award and the Rotary Club Humanitarian Award, but those too, were earned about 20 years ago. After all, Featherston doesn’t do what he does for the recognition, as we learned when we called him to let him know he was our guy, and he needed time to think on it. But after dedicating nearly 30 years of his life to running a successful organization that continues to grow, we knew Featherston was overdue for some flowers, and he accepted the honor in typical Joe Featherston fashion, on behalf of others, to bring awareness to the Special Olympics program and its many participants and volunteers, and the place it’s called home since the beginning, which they stand to lose as the future of St. Camillus Church and its gym remains uncertain.

Before Featherston even heard of Special Olympics, he dedicated his early life to guiding the youth through education and athletics. Originally from Brooklyn, Featherston grew up playing basketball in the streets of Brooklyn, for CYO, in grammar school and in high school for St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, and in the playgrounds around Beach 108th and 109th, where his family had a summer bungalow in Rockaway. So, when he became an English teacher at Bishop Dubois High School in Harlem, he continued as a freshman basketball coach. He went on to become a NY High School Equivalency teacher in the south Bronx, teaching all five school subjects to high school dropouts. He continued doing high school equivalency education for nonprofit Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, a small school near Fordham, where Featherston had graduated college. After graduating, Featherston lived in the Bronx for 17 years, and he kept on coaching basketball as an assistant coach for Cardinal Hayes.

Working with high school dropouts, including single mothers, Featherston saw the need for something beyond education in the Bronx. “I saw the need for not only education, but also nutrition and wellness in their lives, so I got more involved in wellness myself and founded the Bronx Gliders Running Club and that became an increasingly big part of my life,” Featherston said. The sudden interest in nutrition and wellness brought him to California, where he obtained a masters in exercise physiology at the University of California, Davis, and he served as an assistant basketball and cross-country coach for four years while there.

When he returned to NY, Featherston joined the NYC Department of Education, landing a job as a full-time physical education teacher at Beach Channel High School, which was quickly followed by a permanent move to Rockaway in 1989, bringing with him his wealth of wellness knowledge and dedication to local youth.

Upon moving to Rockaway, Featherston dove headfirst into serving his new home community, starting the Rockaway Gliders Track Club and becoming involved with sports in his new parish church—St. Camillus. He became a eucharistic minister at the church and started running basketball clinics in the gym, while his father, an immigrant from Ireland, had become a member of the board of trustees for St. Camillus.

Featherston was transferred to Benjamin Cardozo High School as a Phys-ed teacher, and he somehow found time to become a part time assistant basketball coach for Hofstra University and Columbia University, and even started a summer basketball camp at St. Camillus. Following his college coaching days, Featherston was coaching a girls track team at Benjamin Cardozo, when a phone call to the athletics department changed everything.

“I was in the athletic director’s office, and he got a call and handed me the phone and said, ‘Joe, I think this call is meant for you,’ and little did he know how absolutely true that was and how it changed my life,” Featherston said.

On the phone was a representative for the Cross Island YMCA, which was running a swimming program for Special Olympics athletes, and was looking for someone to train the athletes in track for a meet for Special Olympians coming up at St. John’s University. “I was not even aware of what Special Olympics did before that phone call at Benjamin Cardozo in 1993,” Featherston said, but he took on the challenge, going to the Cross Island YMCA every Wednesday, to prepare the athletes for the meet at St. John’s.

“While I was there, I met Jane Orban from Howard Beach and Regina Fitzpatrick from Rockaway Beach, who were traveling to Cross Island in northern Queens to bring their sons for the activities. And one day, Regina said to me, ‘We have nothing like this in southern Queens. Why don’t you start something there?’” Featherston said. And so he did.

Featherston contacted the director for Special Olympics for Queens, Eileen Kelly, who led him through the steps to apply for a new Special Olympics training site. He just needed a place and people. So, Featherston turned to a place that became like a home for his family and would be a continuous home for his own growing family, the place where he married his bride, Maureen in 1998, and where his son Joseph was baptized—St. Camillus.

“I was already familiar with Father James Dunne and Father William Sweeney from St. Camillus, so I asked them, and they readily agreed to supply the St. Camillus gymnasium for our use,” Featherston said.

With the place set, Featherston recruited the help of some of his fellow athletes from the Rockaway Gliders Track Club including Rose Gurry, Kathy Clark, Jim McVeigh, Joe and Christine Courtney and Rich Grossetto. And on a Monday night in the late winter/early spring of 1996, with eight athletes and six volunteers, St. Camillus Special Olympics began. “That was the start,” Featherston said.

To help fund the program, Featherston, with the help of the St. Camillus Homeschool Association, launched the Rockaway Gliders Family Run (which he continues to help run with Keith “Bugsy” Goldberg under The Graybeards each summer), with Father Sweeney offering to cover the costs if the event got rained out. “The proceeds from that run allowed us to buy ping pong sets and knock hockey sets and nets for soccer and floor hockey, all of the equipment, which we still have to this day. And Rick Horan graciously donated an air hockey table, which has been big over the last 20 years,” Featherston said.

All of that equipment and more can be found in a storage space on the stage at Springman Hall of St. Camillus, where each Monday night, more than half of the Special Olympics’ hearty roster of 70 participants, ranging in age from 13 to 75, gather for a night of various activities. With perfectly placed support beams in the alcove of the gym, St. Camillus provides the perfect space for the volunteers to divvy up areas for various activities from basketball on the main court to soccer, football, hockey, to now pickleball, and brand new this year, arts and crafts and a nutrition/wellness station for the athletes to learn about how to stay healthy from the inside out.

Each session runs from 6:30 p.m.to 8 p.m. The athletes start with a greeting and warm up, before they’re split into activity stations, which they rotate through. The stations are run by generous volunteers from middle to high school to college and adults, who dedicate their time each Monday. Hundreds have come and gone through the years, but among some of the longtime volunteers are Susan Brady, Peter Brady, Ray Otton, Patrick Trainor, Theresa Trainor, Kerry Hynes, Russel Hauk, Nick Compagnone, Kevin Dowler, Billy Armstrong, John Tipaldo, Danny Gorry and Jay Burke. Running the brand-new arts and crafts station is Lori Bernstein of the Rockaway Theatre Company, and running the nutrition/ wellness center complete with mini weights, a stationary bike and more, are James Byrne, Deirdre Roberts and Nicole Duemig. And the activities continue to be offered in St. Camillus, with the late Father Richie Ahlemeyer and now Father James Rodriguez, generously reserving Monday nights for the St. Camillus Special Olympics program, while faithful custodian Joe Wiley makes sure the gym is in tip top shape for the Olympians.

“Thirty years is a long time and some of the participants have been coming for 30 years, and many for 20. They really enjoy St. Camillus. They know every little nook and cranny and routine and they really enjoy the space, especially because we have the stage, where we can keep our equipment,” Featherston said of their home base for the fall and spring.

But over the years, St. Camillus Special Olympics has blossomed beyond Springman Hall, and into more of a year-round program as the Olympians have become immersed in many aspects of the community. About 10 years ago, they were welcomed into the Rockaway Little League and each late spring and early summer, the Olympians can be spotted around the bases at Fort Tilden, playing as part of the Challenger division, under Matt Piccione’s guidance.

Ever growing, for the first time in 2025, the Special Olympians are now also participants in the longtime Rockaway tradition of the Summer Classic at St. Francis de Sales, happily competing in basketball tournaments in front of a cheering audience all summer, as well as the SFDS Christmas Tournament. And all Featherston had to do was ask. “I approached Keith Goldberg for the Summer Classic and Brian Kelly for the Christmas tournament, and both were totally supportive, as well as Skippy Doyle who refereed the Summer Classic games,” he said.

Branching out into SFDS’ tournaments this year has been a great addition to the program. “It gives me great pleasure to see how much pride the Olympians get in performing in front of all these new people, new fans, new friends in a hallowed tradition, and it gives me tremendous pleasure to see how many new supporters, both young and old, who have been cheering them on and attending their games. That’s been nice to see, and they get excited about that,” Featherston said. It’s the same loud cheers the Olympians get each March, as they proudly walk behind the St. Camillus Special Olympics banner in the annual Queens County St. Patrick’s Day Parade, an event they’ve won several trophies for as one of the best groups in the parade.

Expanding their visibility and activities within the community, other local businesses and organizations have welcomed the Olympians with open arms, with the Knights of Columbus hosting their annual Halloween and Christmas parties,  the Graybeards hosting a Special Olympics event during the annual Family Fun Run, Joe Mure inviting them to The Little North Pole for their very own lighting and visit with Santa, Callie’s hosting movie nights for them, JUMP Dance inviting them for a holiday dance party, Jamesons hosting a pre-parade bagel breakfast and The Wharf hosting their end-of-the-year barbecue. Plus, their programs continue to get generous support from Mike McMahon and Renee McKeown of Rogers, which holds a big raffle for the program, Bob Johnson at The Cabana in Long Beach, The Harbor Light, through the Charlie Heeran Foundation, and the Breezy Point AOH and Columbiettes.

Over the years, Featherston has taken the Olympians even further, including to a Special Olympics competition in Dublin and Galway in Ireland in 2002, visits to Army-Navy football games, several trips to Shake a Leg adaptive water sports program in Miami, where he hopes to bring them again next year, several trips to Windham Mountain for an adaptive ski program, thanks to Rita and Flip Mullen, which has since become a summer trip to Windham, which includes a barbecue, a pool party and a visit to Zoom Flume Waterpark, and many opportunities where the Olympians have been given a spotlight on some big basketball courts at Xaverian, Hofstra, Fordham, St. John’s University, even Madison Square Garden, Molloy College and soon to be Mercy College, through Charlie Marquardt’s basketball clinic.

In turn, the Special Olympians have given Featherston memories that will last a lifetime. “There have been some really wonderful moments. One athlete, Kevin Nolan, who is now deceased unfortunately, had struggled and walked very gingerly, and we had to convince his father that he could go skiing at Windham through their adaptive program. His father was hesitant, but when he saw Kevin come down that hill on skis with two volunteers on his side, I’ll never forget his father looking up to the heavens and screaming out ‘Alleluia!’” Featherston shared. “Another highlight was when the mother of another athlete, Nico Santiago was installed as a supreme court judge, she invited all of the Special Olympians to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” at her inauguration, and they received a standing ovation from all of the dignitaries. And when we got to play halftime at the Villanova/St. John’s basketball game at Madison Square Garden, in front of 18,000 people, through Terrence Mullin. My athletes still talk about making a basket at The Garden.”

In between his dedication to the Special Olympians, Featherston has never stopped serving the community in other ways, especially the local youth. Some know him as a member of charitable organizations like The Graybeards, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus. Some may see him at church at St. Francis de Sales, where he now serves as a eucharistic minister and on the Parish Council. Some may still see him around Channel View School for Research, where he “retired” as founding assistant principal in 2019 but continues to serve as a F-Status assistant principal one to two days a week, mentoring new teachers, imparting wisdom that came from several decades of experience.

Featherston was working as assistant principal at Canarsie High School when Patricia Tubridy had a vision for a new school on the peninsula. “She had a vision of opening a small school on the campus of Beach Channel called Channel View School for Research and she became the first principal and asked me to join her as assistant principal in 2004 until I retired,” Featherston said. “It was the biggest pleasure to work at Channel View and I’m thankful to Pat Tubridy for giving me that opportunity to come from big schools like Benjamin Cardozo and Thomas Jefferson and Canarsie, where students would fall through the cracks without anyone taking personal interest in them. In a smaller school, I was able to befriend and get to know the name of every student and consequently, our graduation rate went from an average of 70-75% in the big schools, to 95-97% in the small school, so that was a big accomplishment. Channel View is very close to me, and I enjoy mentoring the new teachers to help them be successful. I like being around the kids, it keeps me going.”

And it’s the people of the Special Olympics program that have kept it going 30 years strong. “It’s part of my life. They’re like my extended family. Their kindness, their gratitude, their fun and friendship, it gives me a lot of pleasure to be around them, and it allows me to be a better person. I try to practice those qualities of niceness and kindness and they make me realize what’s important in life. I can’t picture myself, as long as God continues to give me my health, not being involved with the Special Olympics. They’re great people, both the athletes, the parents, the volunteers and the supporters,” Featherston said. That’s why he remains hands on in all of their activities, throwing basketballs around the gym and pitching baseball games on the field. “They keep me young,” he said.

With that in mind, Featherston hopes to keep the St. Camillus Special Olympics program growing into 2026 and beyond, hopefully, at St. Camillus, which in May 2025, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced would have to close due to financial troubles and low attendance. “We have been blessed by the continued support of St. Camillus. Let’s try and keep St. Camillus open. My goal for 2026 is to try and unite the community, and if they’d really like to support Special Olympics and all of the other wonderful activities that use St. Camillus, please start attending Mass,” Featherston said. “Running this program for 30 years has made me happy because anyone that has been involved with the Olympians has realized that these folks deserve a complete life where they are totally accepted into society, and the more people that can live that message and spread that message, the better off it is for both the Olympians and society as a whole. One of my next goals would be to try and find sources of employment on the peninsula for our Olympians, but let’s save their home first. Let’s save St. Camillus.”

If anyone would like to become a participant or a volunteer for the St. Camillus Special Olympics program, Featherston says it’s simple… “Just show up on a Monday night.”