Editor’s note: Ocean City High School graduate Athens (Voyadgis) Pellegrino was featured in an article in the Nov. 24, 2021 edition of the Sentinels about her ongoing book series, “The Military Child Chronicles.” Find the story here.
OCEAN CITY — Ocean City High School graduate Athens (Voyadgis) Pellegrino, who is authoring a series of books to help families and their children navigate military life, has been nominated as a candidate for the 2022 Military Spouse of the Year.
The Armed Forces Military Spouse of the Year award began in 2008 to honor spouses from all branches of the military. According to the program, the award “recognizes military spouses’ important contributions and unwavering commitment to the military community and our country.” Anyone can register and vote by going online and signing up at https://msoy.afi.org/users/sign_up.
The first round of voting closes Feb. 7.
Pellegrino, who is married to U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Christopher Pellegrino and has been a civilian budget analyst for the Air Force for 10 years, has written two books so far in her series, “The Military Child Chronicles.” The second book debuted Dec. 1. It is called “Mission: Mistletoe” and is about children of military families not being able to get together with extended families during the holiday. The first book in the series is “Mission: My First PCS,” about the Permanent Change of Station — how families have to sometimes up and move quickly and how to cope with that.
The Pellegrinos have two children, son Atticus, 3, and daughter Callista, just under 2. Another baby is due in April. They are stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. Pellegrino is the daughter of Peter Voyadgis of Somers Point and Gwen Voyadgis, who died Nov. 2, 2021.
“As I started to think about all of the obstacles military children face, that’s when I decided to create this series and have several different books to serve as tools,” she told the Sentinel in an interview in November 2021. (See story at ocnjsentinel.com.) The books are available on amazon.com, Target, Books-A-Million or through her website, themilitarychronicles.wordpress.com, which has links to the sites.
Pellegrino was nominated for the award by her husband, who explained the books she writes are meant to entertain children and provide helpful parenting tips while being a dedicated mother, supporting him and holding down her full-time job as a budget analysts.
“Her ability to put family first, support everyone around her and work full time is incredible. She is a remarkable spouse who worked hard and accomplished a lot this year. Selflessly, it is community and family that drives her,” Chris Pellegrino wrote.
Athens said she also gets involved with the spouses groups wherever they live — they have moved eight times as they follow Chris’ career — and served as president of the spouses group while he attended Air Command and Staff College, as well as on the board of the Maxwell Spouses Group as the ACSC Spouses liaison. She said her volunteer work has led her meeting hundreds of military spouses and learning about the perpetual challenges they face.
“I made it my personal duty to be able to help our community thrive,” she said.
Pellegrino has also shared her experiences and knowledge through multiple podcasts and is a mentor for other military spouses, encouraging them to go after their dreams. She has spread her message through national and international media outlets including ABC News and Stars and Stripes.
Pellegrino said if she wins the Military Spouse of the Year title, she hopes to be able to grow her platform and “create awareness on the importance of military community and family support. I believe it is my calling and duty to support the military community. I pledge to be an advocate, role model and leader to get us the family, financial, educational and emotional support that we need.”
To support Pellegrino, go online to https://msoy.afi.org/users/sign_up. Voting closes on Feb. 7.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff