The Greenfield Recorder is seeking nominations for its Citizen of the Year, an honor bestowed annually to a person who has made a significant contribution to the community of Franklin County.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the tradition. While many past Citizens of the Year have been recognized for a lifetime of achievement, the honor is open to anyone — prominent or not — whose work or volunteerism is deserving of recognition even if it is done quietly behind the scenes. Nominations must be received by Friday, Oct. 28.
“Reading the many nominations we receive for Citizen of the Year is one of the best parts of this job,” Recorder Publisher Shawn Palmer said. “It is a perfect reminder that we are surrounded by so many people, doing so much good for the benefit of others beyond themselves. I’m proud to continue this tradition of recognition, established 40 years ago by the Recorder.”
Last year, the Recorder honored Carolyn Shores Ness for her decades of community service, including with the United Way of Franklin County, the Franklin County Community Development Corporation, the Girls Club of Greenfield and her many roles in Deerfield government. The year before it was Susan Samoriski, who founded and served as executive director of the Mary Lyon Foundation in Shelburne Falls for 30 years until her retirement.
Previous honorees were Robert “Robbie” Cohn, a businessman who has served on numerous boards (2019); David Chichester, who served in 10 volunteer positions for his former town of Conway (2018); and Robert Pura, former president of Greenfield Community College, who retired the following year (2017).
How do you submit a nomination? Send a written statement with as much detail about why someone deserves to be Citizen of the Year to the Recorder either by email to Executive Editor Dan Crowley at dcrowley@recorder.com or by mailing it to Recorder Citizen of the Year, P.O. Box 1367, Greenfield, MA, 01302. Include your name, address, phone number and email, and the same information for the person you are nominating. Nominations also can be submitted online at recorder.com. Look for an online nomination form down the right side of the homepage
An advertisement is running regularly in the Recorder as a reminder and contains a form readers can use. Nominees who weren’t chosen in the past can be considered with a new nomination this year.
A committee consisting of the Recorder’s editorial board and volunteers from the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce board will review the nominations. The editorial board will make the final decision regarding a winner. There were three dozen nominations submitted in 2021.
The honoree will be celebrated at the December breakfast hosted by the Recorder and the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. The Citizen of the Year also will be featured in a story on the front page of the Recorder.
The Citizen of the Year will receive $500, half of which will be donated to a charity of the honoree’s choice.
Other past winners include Joan Vander Vliet, Al Dray, Elizabeth Hollingsworth and Philip Gilmore of Deerfield; Pearl Care of Erving; Theodore Martineau of Montague City; Rolland Gifford, Marion Taylor and Marvin Shippee of Shelburne Falls; Ann Hamilton, Amy Clarke, Marjorie Reid, Edward Tombs, Irmarie Jones, Jean Cummings, David McCarthy, Charles Carter and Arline Cohn of Greenfield; Marie Putala, the Rev. Stanley Aksamit, John Carey, Shirley Lovett and Richard Kimball of Turners Falls; Albert Diemand and Theodore Lewis of Wendell; Frank R. “Bud” Foster and William Shores of Bernardston; Marian Holbrook and Raymond Zukowski of Northfield; Allan Adie of Gill; Clifford Fournier, Marty Picard and Geneva Lawson of Orange; and Adelia Bardwell of Whately.
Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@recorder.com.