By John Lofstock, Editor

It’s been a busy year filled with accolades for venerable industry icon Richard Salinsky.

With more than 50 years of experience and dedication to the industry, Salinsky was honored earlier this year with the prestigious Distinguished Marketer Award from SIGMA, the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA). Now, the co-founder and president of Massachusetts-based Best Petroleum, is being honored again, but this time it’s not for his contribution to the petroleum industry. Salinsky, a former nose guard of the 1962 Northeast Conference championship Marblehead football team was inducted into the Marblehead High School Football Hall of Fame.

A three year letterman from 1960-1962, Salinsky was recognized for his outstanding contribution to Marblehead football.

Salinsky, an undersized nose guard, recovered two fumbles in the 1961 annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry game against the Swampscott Big Blue, which the president of the Marblehead Gridiron Club described as “the biggest upset victory in 102 years of Marblehead High School football” as he introduced Salinsky at the Hall of Fame ceremony.

In 1962, Salinsky put up another stellar performance in the turkey day rivalry game which earned him the game ball.

Lessons From the Field
During his acceptance speech, he credited football for his success in life and in business. He reminisced about his playing days and recalled having to run 10 laps in full pads during double sessions. “We were all exhausted, but we all finished,” Salinsky said. Then coach said, ‘Alright boys, its 4th and 1, who can do one more lap? Who has the heart and desire?’ Some of us carried others, some crawled, but we all made it for one more lap. To this day, whenever life gets tough, I think about that day and treat every challenge as if its 4th and 1, and it has made a tremendous difference in what I have been able to accomplish.”

A lifelong Massachusetts resident, Richard is married to Esther Salinsky, who was present at the induction, along with his two daughters Michelle and Gayle and his seven grandchildren.

Following graduation from Marblehead High School, Salinsky attended Boston University. In 1972 he co-founded Best Petroleum, LLC, headquartered in Lynn, Massachusetts, a successful retail business which he has operated for the past 40 years.

The SIGMA Distinguished Marketer Award, given to Salinsky earlier this year, is bestowed on an individual whose deeds and efforts have made a significant contribution to the retail fuel marketing industry. Salinsky has been an active member of SIGMA since 1981 and has gained much admiration and respect from his association peers through the years. What’s more, the award has only been given out 19 times in SIGMA’s 53 year history, and Salinsky is the first New Englander to receive the award in more than three decades.