2017 -- H 6063

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING TONY PETRARCA FOR HIS THIRTY YEARS OF EXCELLENCE AS

A METEOROLOGIST WITH WPRI-TV

     Introduced By: Representatives Kennedy, Mattiello, Morgan, Shekarchi, and Edwards

     Date Introduced: April 04, 2017

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Anthony Ralph Petrarca, a native Rhode Islander and the son of Ralph

Anthony "Hap" Petrarca and Catherine Petrarca, was always fascinated by the varying weather

patterns and quick temperature changes that are a part of Rhode Island culture and lore. As a

young boy Tony grew up in the ocean state, and had a "weather wall" at home where he would

track snowstorms and hurricanes and dream of being a meteorologist on television; and

     WHEREAS, Tony Petrarca is a graduate of Toll Gate High School in Warwick. He

matriculated at Lyndon State College in Vermont, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in

Meteorology. On March 17, 1987, he fulfilled his childhood dream when he was hired by WPRI

as a television meteorologist and recalls his first time on TV as "the scariest 3 ½ minutes of my

life"; and

     WHEREAS, Tony credits the Blizzard of '78 with peaking his interest in tracking the

weather. Since then, he has covered Tropical Storm Irene and the destruction along the shoreline

from Super Storm Sandy, numerous blizzards, over 100 inches of snow in 1995, major nor'easters

and the historic floods of 2010 that brought widespread torrents of rain and river overflow to area

communities; and

     WHEREAS, Tony Petrarca is a member of the American Meteorological Society where

he received their highest hallmark of approval when he was given the "A.M.S. Broadcast Seal of

Approval" award. In 2012, he was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and

Sciences' Silver Circle; and

     WHEREAS, Tony Petrarca has been nominated six times for a New England Emmy

Award, has been voted the Most Accurate Meteorologist ten times by Rhode Island Monthly

Magazine's annual reader's poll, and led the Eyewitness News Pinpoint Weather team in winning

the Associated Press award for "Best Weathercast" seven times, including winning the award six

times in a row. One of the highlights of his career occurred when he spent a weekend at the

summit of Mt. Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, an event which later became the

focus of an Emmy nominated documentary entitled "On Top Of New England"; and

     WHEREAS, Tony Petrarca also spends much of his free time giving back to the

community. He has visited more than six hundred elementary schools over the past twenty-seven

years, teaching youngsters about weather. He is involved in numerous charitable organizations

including the Tomorrow Fund, Meeting Street School, the East Bay Coalition for The Homeless,

Crossroads Homeless Shelter, The Fogarty Center, and Hasbro Children's Hospital. He has also

served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and is a co-host

for the annual Meeting Street Telethon, and former co-host of the Jerry Lewis Muscular

Dystrophy Association Telethon. In 2015, he received the "Sons of Italy Service Award." He also

serves as a Eucharistic Minister at Sacred Heart Church in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and is

the devoted father of three children; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby congratulates Tony Petrarca for thirty years of excellence as a

meteorologist with WPRI-TV. We thank him for his many civic contributions to our state and

local communities and wish him continued success in all his future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Tony Petrarca.

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