We got a good question about the Enterprise and Lake Placid News' annual Volunteer of the Year award, so we figured we'd answer it here.
We asked readers a little more than a week ago in this space to nominate active and selfless Tri-Lakes community members for the award. Then Natalie Leduc called and said she was thinking about nominating a couple of people, but she couldn't remember if they had won it before. She asked if the Enterprise would print the past winners.
Of course. It took a little digging in our archives, since no one here had ever compiled a nice, neat list like this in the award's 20-year history, but here it is.
2010 Virginia Bristol
2009 Katie Fischer
2008 Cherie Fisher
2007 Roland Patnode
2006 Natalie Leduc
2005 Joy Harvey
2004 Paulann Andrews
2003 Bob McKillip
2002 Marjorie McLaughlin
2001 Lora Brown
2000 Conni Cross
1999 John Howard
1998 Tom Scheefer
1997 Rip Allen
1996 Rick Knapton
1995 Jim Rollier
1994 Frank Morrison
1993 Dan and Issy Cassell
1992 Ruth Miller
1991 Gary Ryther
We hope reading these names does to you what it does for us - reminds you of how good all these hard-working people are and makes you want to follow in their footsteps.
It also reminds us that the winners were fairly spread out throughout the Tri-Lakes during the award's first decade, but the last 10 have been only from the Saranac Lake area. This, we can attest from reviewing the nominees each year, is because almost no one outside of Saranac Lake and its surrounding towns - the area bound by its school district - nominates anyone anymore. We realize that there are other honors in each community, from chamber of commerce awards to local halls of fame, and that people often choose to nominate for these instead of one that spans the entire Tri-Lakes area. We realize that you have a lot of things to keep track of, but we also point out that this regional recognition carries farther than local ones. This year, we especially urge people of the Tupper Lake and Lake Placid areas - including the towns of Keene, Jay, Wilmington and Piercefield - to join their Saranac Lake area neighbors in putting their best people forward as we choose the 21st annual Volunteer of the Year. The deadline is Friday, Feb. 18, and the winner will be profiled in our Community Resource Directory, which will be distributed inside the Enterprise on March 18.