Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners officially endorsed Angelina Chilaka, retired educator residing in Harwich, as the 2022 Mercy Otis Warren Cape Cod Woman of the Year recipient. The Mercy Otis Warren Woman of the Year Award Committee recommended Ms. Angelina Chilaka for this Award that recognizes a Cape Cod woman who has made a significant and positive impact in our region.
The Mercy Otis Warren Cape Cod Woman of the Year Award was established in 2002 to annually recognize a woman who exemplifies the traits of leadership in the community and who has made a significant contribution to the arts, education, business or community involvement, and volunteerism while embracing the ideals of patriotism.
Ms. Chilaka was nominated by Karen Boujoukos, also of Harwich.
In her nomination letter, Ms. Boujoukos wrote that as an educator, Ms. Chilaka’s “teaching job gave her a window into the the lives of the students, some of whom were struggling with economic stability in their homes.” She went on to describe Ms. Chilaka’s impact as having had its roots in charitable endeavors to ensure that warm winter clothes and school supplies were provided to students in need. Ms. Chilaka is a volunteer with the American Red Cross, the Harwich Council on Aging, and serves on the Board of Directors for Outer Cape Health Services. She has been a long-time member of the MLK Action Team, a racial justice group of the Nauset Interfaith Association, and through the work of this non-profit she has been instrumental in promoting racial justice.
Ms. Chilaka is also the producer of the Cape Verdean Heritage Oral History Project, a video documentary series. “Mercy Otis Warren, remembered as ‘the historian of the American Revolution,’ would have appreciated Ms. Chilaka’s efforts to record the stories of Cape Verdeans who have woven their stories into the history of Harwich and Cape Cod,” said Award Committee member Ed Maroney.
ABOUT THE CELEBRATION: The award will be presented to Ms. Chilaka by last year’s recipient, Wendy Northcross, on Flag Day, June 14, 2022, at 7:00 PM at the 1717 Meetinghouse, 2049 Meetinghouse Way, West Barnstable, Massachusetts 02668. The award is a bronze statuette sculpted by Marstons Mills artist David Lewis. It is a replica of the statue of Mercy Otis Warren located on the Superior Court House lawn in Barnstable Village.
The event will coincide with the Annual Flag Day community event, a collaboration among the West Barnstable Fire Department, Meetinghouse Farm, and the West Barnstable Civic Association. Residents are invited to embrace a patriotic spirit by participating in both events. Admission to the award ceremony is free, and donations will be accepted.
The Committee would like to thank their sponsors: Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, Barnstable County, Tales of Cape Cod, Barnstable Village Association, West Barnstable Civic Association, Cape Cod Media Group, and the Cape Cod Writers Guild.
ABOUT MERCY OTIS WARREN: Mercy Otis Warren, born in West Barnstable in 1728, was a playwright, a historian, a pioneer in women’s causes, a champion of liberty, an advocate of the Bill of Rights, and a patriot. In an era when it was unusual for a woman to receive an education, or to emerge as a leader, her advocacy for the cause of patriotism during the Revolution was remarkable.
PAST RECIPIENTS: 2002 Marion R. Vuilleumier | 2003 Jean D. Gardner | 2004 Eugenia Fortes | 2005 Felicia R. Penn | 2006 Bonnie M. Snow | 2007 Lynne M. Poyant | 2008 Josephine P. Ives | 2009 Mary L. LeClair | 2010 Gloria W. Rudman | 2011 Susan A. French | 2012 Judy Walden Scarafile | 2013 Dorothy A. Savarese | 2014 Mary Lou Petitt | 2015 Michelle L. DeSilva | 2016 Ann M. Williams | 2017 Dolores Holden Daluz | 2018 Nancy Viall Shoemaker | 2019 Juliet Bernstein | 2020 Mimi McConnell | 2021 Wendy Northcross. Visit https://www.barnstablecounty.org/affiliated-organizations/mercy-otis-warren-woman-year/past-recipients/ to learn more about the Mercy Otis Woman Cape Cod Woman of the Year awards and to view a full list of all the award winners.
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