The young and old were celebrated at Tuesday’s Township Committee meeting.

Receiving proclamations were longtime community activist Lou Possemato and recent Hillsborough High School graduate Rachael Van Pelt.

Possemato was honored chiefly for his service with the Hillsborough/Millstone Municpal Alliance, a group dedicated to combating substance abuse.

But that is only the tip of the iceberg of Possemato’s community involvement. A former president of the Hillsborough Board of Education, he also served as president of the Hillsborough Township Chapter A Senior Citizen Group from 1995 to 2004, a member of the Hillsborough Education Foundation, Credit Card Advisory Committee and the Veterans Day Remembrance Committee.

In addition, he has been a trustree and board member of Mary, Mother of God Parish where he has been an usher since 1983.

Possemato joined the Municipal Alliance in 1999 and served until 2011. During his tenure at the alliance, he was a volunteer at several activities, including Red Ribbon Week, Family Fun Nights, the Hillsborough Middle School Mentor Program, the Girls on Track Program at the intermediate and middle schools and prevention assemblies at the middle and high schools.

Van Pelt, who graduated from high school in June, was honored for being selected as a semifinalist in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

Van Pelt earned that honor after receiving a perfect score on the SAT in writing, math and critical reading.

The salutatorian of the Class of 2012, Van Pelt will be studying engineering in the fall at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Van Pelt was one of only 572 semifinalists nationwide selected from 3 million graduating seniors.