Rotarians seek nominations for Warwick Citizen of the Year
Warwick. Deadline to nominate is Aug. 6; award to be presented Sept. 15.
| 21 Jun 2021 | 04:03
Warwick Valley Rotarians are seeking nominations for Warwick Citizen of the Year. This year’s winners and those from 2020 will be honored during a dinner Sept. 15 at the Chateau Hathorn. Selection committee members include, left to right, incoming Rotary President Leo Kaytes Jr., holding the Rotary plaque listing recent winners; event co-chairs Stan Martin and Leo Kaytes Sr.; and Master of Ceremonies and Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton with the Jaycee plaque honoring winners from 1968-1999. The Warwick Citizens of the Year plaques are displayed at Town Hall. Photo by Mike Padham.
Two Warwick Citizens of the Year will be honored in September during a ceremony at Chateau Hathorn.
Last year’s Citizen of the Year, WTBQ Radio owner Frank Truatt, as well as Outstanding Community Service Award honorees Jennifer O’Connor, Carmela Borranza and Nichole McCormick had their award presentation delayed because of the corona virus pandemic. On Sept. 15 they will finally receive their plaques and accolades along with this year’s recipients.
Who should be Warwick’s next Citizen of the Year? You might have the answer.
Local Rotarians are seeking nominations for the coveted award. A letter outlining the accomplishments and reasons for the nomination can be mailed to the Warwick Town Supervisor, 132 Kings Highway, Warwick NY 10990, or e-mailed to stanmartin42@yahoo.com. Deadline for nominations is Friday, Aug. 6.
Members of the Warwick Valley Rotary Club, a service organization of local community-minded men and women, are sponsoring the annual event.
Stan Martin and Leo Kaytes Sr., both former Warwick Rotary presidents, are co-chairing the event for the 14th time. The Warwick Citizen of the Year program was inaugurated in 1968 by the now defunct Warwick Jaycees.
“There are so many local residents who deserve recognition for making this a quality place to live,” said Martin. “These volunteers have demonstrated a commitment to community service over an extended period of time.”
Kaytes encouraged community input on candidates for 2021-2022 Warwick Citizen of the Year. He pointed out that there are so many qualified nominations that normally two additional persons are recognized with “Outstanding Community Service Awards.”
Two former Warwick Jaycees and current Warwick Rotarians - Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton and Attorney Doug Stage - are also on the committee along with John Buckley, John Bollenbach, Lilibet Lewis McLean, John McGloin, Calvin Hargis, Leo Kaytes Jr., Frank Truatt and event co-chairs Martin and Leo Kaytes Sr.
Warwick’s Citizens of the Year
WARWICK – Two plaques honoring Warwick’s past Citizens of the Year hang in the Warwick Town Hall.
Lawrence Stage was the first recipient of the honor in 1968 when the Jaycees inaugurated the program. The Warwick Jaycees continued the awards dinner until 1999, when the club went inactive because of decreasing membership.
Individuals were honored in all but four of 43 years. Warwick’s Chamber of Commerce won in 2010. In 1986 Warwick Against the Radioactive Dump was saluted for its successful battle against New Jersey’s placing radioactive waste near the Warwick-Vernon border. The following year the husband-and-wife team of George and Mary Goodman was honored. In 2014 Glenn P. and Susan D. Dickes were honorees.
Another couple also made the select list. Dr. Harry Sayre was chosen Citizen of the Year in 1972 and his wife, Pete, was honored in 1990.
Entertainers won back-to-back awards when Tony and Emmy award winner Richard Kiley was selected Citizen of the Year in 1994 and radio and television personality Dick Wells captured the award the following year. Two local newspaper publishers have been honored - Betty Jane Wright of the Warwick Valley Dispatch, honored in 1996, and Stan Martin of The Warwick Advertiser in 2017. There were no recipients in 1997 and 1998. Auto dealer Leo Kaytes was chosen in 1999 for his decades of community service.
The Warwick Valley Rotary Club reactivated the Citizen of the Year program in 2008. Clayton Eurich, who helped almost one hundred Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts, won that year. The following year Frank Cassanite, Jr., head of the Warwick Ambulance Corps, was chosen.
The year-by-year honorees as Warwick Citizens of the Year were:
1968 – Lawrence Stage
1969 – Clifton Brown
1970 – Charles Rowe
1971 – Daniel Maxwell
1972 – Harry Sayre
1973 – George Hansen
1974 – Calvin Gilbert
1975 – Mildred Stewart
1976 – John Cox
1977 – Patricia McConnell
1978 – Fred Batz
1979 – Gearlin Logan
1980 – Joseph DeBold
1981 – Elmer C. Fry
1982 – Dorothy Sanford
1983 – Roy Barker
1984 – Bruce Sherman
1985 – George Relyea
1986 – Warwick Against Radioactive Dump
1987 – George & Mary Goodman
1988 – John S. Hicks
1989 – John Mattison
1990 – Pete Sayre
1991 – Lon Tytell
1992 – Elizabeth Van Leer
1993 – Mike Myrow
1994 – Richard Kiley
1995 – Dick Wells
1996 – Betty Jane Wright
1999 – Leo Kaytes
2008 Clayton Eurich
2009 – Frank Cassanite Jr.
2010 – Warwick Chamber of Commerce
2011 – Ben Winstanley
2012 – John Woloszczak Jr.
2013 – Dr. Richard Hull
2014 – Glenn P. and Susan D. Dickes
2015 – Bill Iurato
2016 – Claire Gabelmann
2017 – Stan Martin
2018 – Doug Stage
2019 – Hannelore Chambers
2020 – Frank Truatt