JERRY FOREST MEMORIAL AWARD
Presented in the name of a founder of the Irish American Building Society. Jerry Forest and the Irish American Building Society were an integral part of the revitalization of the Great Irish Fair. He was a man who loved Ireland and was dedicated to the Irish cause. The award is given to a person who is recognized for leadership and service to family, friends and community.

Daniel G. Woods is receiving the Jerry Forest Memorial Award.
Proud of his Irish heritage, Woods traces his lineage to County Limerick and the coastal towns of Kilrush and Kilkee in County Clare on his mother’s side and to the village of Keady, County Armagh on his father’s side.
His maternal forefathers immigrated during the Great Famine. His paternal great-great grandfather was born in Brooklyn in 1848.
Woods was born and raised in Bayside, where he belonged to Sacred Heart Church and attended the parish school. His family summered in Breezy Point.
He graduated from Holy Cross H.S., Flushing, and Marist College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
At Marist, Christian service values were instilled, and opportunities were presented to put these values into practice. He learned that no matter where life’s journey brings you, you should always give back to others – and that thread has been woven throughout the fabric of his life.
Woods currently works as the vice president of sales and business development at Agility Cable Inc., a leader in technology infrastructure installations.
Previously in the commercial real estate field, he was associate director of transaction services at Grubb and Ellis, Manhattan, and a transaction services associate at Massey and Knakal’s Williamsburg office in development, sales and mix-use properties. He was highlighted in the Brooklyn & Queens Tribune magazine as an up-and-coming real estate professional.
After residing in Hoboken, N.J., for a time, Woods returned to his Bayside neighborhood and his parish of Sacred Heart.
He and his family are longtime supporters of the Great Irish Fair, Futures in Education in the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens as well as St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf in the Bronx. He also sits on the board of the Irish American Building Society, which presents the annual Great Irish Fair.