Higher Ed

Ed Dadakis

Ed Dadakis

Few Republicans could get away with kissing Ned Lamont on the cheek — let alone get an award from their peers.

Ed Dadakis, a party stalwart from Greenwich who serves on the Republican State Central Committee, is the exception.

The state GOP will present Dadakis, who once pecked Lamont on the cheek in jest during a roast for Christopher Shays, with its Fenton “Pat” Futtner Award for his service to the party during its signature fundraising dinner April 10 in Stamford.

“I’m honored to receive this award,” Dadakis told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers. “Working at the grassroots of the Republican Party has been tremendously rewarding and to receive this award is just icing on the cake.”

Dadakis’ entree into GOP politics came in 1970, when he worked on the victorious Senate campaign of then-Congressman Lowell Weicker Jr. of Greenwich. He recalled traveling around the state with Weicker in a camper.

From 1990 to 1995, Dadakis presided over the Republican Town Committee of Greenwich as its chairman. In 2000, Dadakis spearheaded the get-out-the-vote effort for then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in Greenwich, the boyhood home of former President George H.W. Bush.

Dadakis will be recognized during the Prescott Bush Awards Dinner at the Hilton Stamford Hotel, where the keynote speaker for the fundraiser will be former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

“Each year, the Fenton “Pat” Futtner Award recognizes exceptional, longtime service to our party by one of its unsung heroes,” said Jerry Labbriola Jr., the state GOP chairman. “As chairman of the Greenwich RTC, a member of the State Central Committee, and an integral part of numerous statewide and local campaigns, Ed Dadakis has devoted his life to forwarding the Republican Party and electing Republican candidates.”

Ed Dadakis gives Ned Lamont a peck on the cheek to the amusement of Malcolm Pray as guests gather to roast former Republican Congressman Christopher Shays at Richards on Greenwich Avenue Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

Ed Dadakis gives Ned Lamont a peck on the cheek to the amusement of Malcolm Pray as guests gather to roast former Republican Congressman Christopher Shays at Richards on Greenwich Avenue Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

Neil Vigdor