After three years of effort, Old Rochester Senior Edward Gonet IV was awarded the Congressional Award Gold Medal.

Now that he is finally finished, Gonet said that he feels relieved.

“About a year-and-a-half in, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to complete it,” he said. “It’s just something very special to know that after three years it actually paid off.”

The Congressional Award is the United States Congress’ only charity and the highest honor bestowed upon a youth civilian through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The Gold Medal Ceremony honored 518 youth from 42 states across the nation.

This year’s virtual event was themed “Bright Futures” and included interactive workshops with Members of Congress and industry experts on a range of topics.

In addition to virtual workshops with Members of Congress and business leaders, medalists were personally spotlighted in a virtual procession that featured pre-recorded congratulatory messages from over 100 members of the House and Senate. 

Gonet said that it would have been great to have been able to go to Washington to receive the award in person, but was honored all the same to receive personal congratulations from the nations legislators. 

Paxton Baker, Chairman of the Board for The Congressional Award, kicked off the procession with an address praising the award earners for their hard work.

“The Congressional Award Gold Medal is Congress’ highest honor for youth civilians,” he said. “After what you all have been through in the last year, to say that his honor is well-deserved is an understatement.”

Each Gold Medalist must complete 400 hours of voluntary public service, 200 hours of personal development, 200 hours of physical fitness, and conduct a five-day, four-night exploration trip. For each of the first three requirements, the activity needed to be done over 24 months.

Gonet said he is extremely grateful to his advisor Kelly Zucco for overseeing the journey and to his mentors Michael Beson, Steven Bernardo, Jacob Sherburne, and Jillian Ledogar.

For his public service requirement, Gonet volunteered with Show Stoppers, a local music troupe with whom he sang at places like nursing homes. 

“It was really nice singing at the nursing homes because the older people don’t always get so many visitors, so they would just light up,” he said, adding that he likes to sing songs by singers like  Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, which helped endear him to his audiences. 

To complete his physical fitness requirement, Gonet took up golf with the goal of improving his game. Over the course of three years, he brought his nine-hole score down from 60 to 45 strokes. 

Gonet said that the fitness requirement took him the longest because winter months, when he couldn’t golf, were not counted toward the 24 month requirement. 

To fulfill the personal development portion of the program, Gonet set himself the goal of improving his acting skills and winning the lead role in a school play.

Gonet started as part of the chorus in Cinderella his first year. The next time around, he was cast as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, but the production was cancelled due to covid. Finally in spring 2019, he played Billy Crocker in Anything Goes, one of the lead roles. 

For his final requirement, the five-day, four-night expedition or exploration, Gonet said he caught a lucky break. He was allowed to do his journey virtually because of covid, so he spent most of the time taking 360 tours of museums and national parks in Portugal and studying the country’s history.