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Honorees’ vitality
inspiration to community
Observer-Dispatch
Hard work, community
involvement and being
an inspiration to others -
the attributes of the 2006
Accent on Excellence
winners just seem to go
on and on.
Six judges had to narrow
down an impressive number of nominations - 78 of them - to
single out 10 people whose
accomplishments merit the
annual recognition. Northland
Communications and the
Observer-Dispatch founded the
program in 2000 as a way to
encourage young people to
stay in the Mohawk Valley.
Inside this section you’ll
learn about:
- A Sauquoit woman who
helped develop a “Model
Court” program in Oneida
County to give vulnerable children and their families a
chance to voice their needs and
concerns.
- A Deerfield man who’s
been called a “true healer,” for
the work he does with people
with disabilities. He helped one
person kayak for the first time
on an Adirondack lake who said
of him: “He brings out the abilities people have and doesn't
even see the disabilities.”
- A woman who came to the
Utica area from Puerto Rico in
2001 to start her dentistry practice in part because of the many
positives the Mohawk Valley
has to offer.
“Getting hugs and kisses for
what you do is the best pay you
can get,” Dr. Aymme Belen says.
The honorees are:
Mike Bailey,
Dr. Aymme Belen, Alicia
Brockway, Marc DePerno,
Amannda Fix, Susan Hamilton,
Christine Sabino Kiesel, Gregory Mattacola, the Rev. Ursula
Meier and Dr. John Rubin.
Northland Communications’
Mary Malone McCarthy called
the group diverse and vital.“One of the things I thought
was really wonderful was to
see they are growing in professional careers, and also
very committed to volun
teering back to our community,” she said. “In my
eyes, leadership has two pieces
to it: leadership in your profession and leadership in giving
back to your community.”
O-D President and Publisher
Donna Donovan called the nominees “incredibly rich.”
“There was something about
reading these nominations
where time after time you said,‘Wow!’ I also thought this was a
really diverse group and
diverse not only in the back
ground of some of the people
who came through, but in
terms of the population they
serve,” Donovan said.
Jennifer Spring, one of
the judges this year, said
the quality as well as the
quantity of the nominations impressed her. She
said it was very difficult
to narrow them down.
What clinched the
choice? “The level of community service, in addition to
the outstanding professionalism,” said Spring,
New Hartford High
School’s principal. She
said she was mpressed
that six of the 10 being recognized are women, which
says something about their
growing community impact.
Another judge, Jackie
Michel, said the Accent
recognitions have a
momentum of their own.“It brings an awareness
to the broader community
about the number of
accomplished and committed young people contributing in so many different
ways,” she said.
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