The Wanderer is pleased to announce that we are soliciting nominations for our 27th annual “Wanderer Keel Awards.” The yearly community service honor, presented to one Tri-Town resident from each of the three central towns in our circulation area, will be announced in our July 30 edition, and each winner will be the subject of a short feature highlighting his/her contributions to the local community. But The Wanderer needs your help in selecting these “unsung heroes.”
The requirements are simple. Nominees must be legal residents for at least five years of Mattapoisett, Marion or Rochester, and must have contributed in some way to the overall benefit of the community – directly to town residents, indirectly through efforts in promoting town activities or working to keep the wheels of local government well oiled. The only restriction is that these persons cannot benefit from their efforts in any other way – either financially or politically (hence, sitting elected officials are not eligible).
In doing this, we hope to applaud those who are rarely recognized for their countless hours of service and focus on the many people behind the scenes who remain otherwise anonymous, but who provide crucial support to many town functions.
Like the keel of a ship that keeps the vessel from capsizing, the recipients of the Annual Wanderer Keel Award will be recognized for their stalwart efforts in keeping the community on an “even keel.”
Past recipients of this honor include:
– MARION: Claire Russell (1994); Ralph and Phyllis Washburn (1995); Annie Giberti (1996); Jay Crowley (1997); Tyler Blethen (1998); Olive E. Harris (1999, posthumously); Kathleen P. “Kay” Reis (2000); Loretta B. “Lori” Schaefer (2001); Ann and Warren Washburn (2002); Andrew Santos Sr. (2003); Eunice Manduca (2004); Annie Giberti (2005); A. Lee Hayes (2006); Horace “Hod” Kenney (2007); Margie Baldwin (2008); Jack Beck (2009); Dr. John Russell (2010); Jane McCarthy (2011); Nancy Braitmeyer (2012); Rodney Hunt (2013); Hanna Milhench (2014); Robbi Dunn-Tracy (2015); Joanne Mahoney (2016); Diane Cook (2017); Pete Smith (2018); Robert Raymond (2019).
– MATTAPOISETT: Maurice “Mudgie” Tavares (1994); Priscilla Alden Hathaway (1995); Norma Holt (1996); Gale Hudson (1997); Kenneth Stickney (1998); Clara Morgan (1999); Betty and Bert Theriault (2000); John N. “Jack” DeCosta (2001); Jo Pannell (2002); Stan Ellis (2003); Evelyn Pursley (2004); Luice Moncevitch (2005); Seth Mendell (2006); Bradford A. Hathaway (2007); Kim Field (2008); David Spencer Jenny (2009); Stephen L. Kelleher (2010); Bento Martin (2011); Howard C. Tinkham (2012); Ellen Flynn (2013); Jennifer Shepley (2014); Ruth Bates (2015, posthumously); Debbi Dyson and Julie Craig (2016); Bonne DeSousa (2017); Jillian Zucco (2018); Lois Knight Ennis (2019).
– ROCHESTER: Joseph McCarthy (1994); Jean Fennell (1995); Katherine Hartley Church (1996); Chris Byron (1997); Albert Alderson (1998); Arthur and Aline Lionberger (1999); Kenneth E. Daggett (2000); Georgia D. Chamberlain (2001); Mary P. Wynne (2002); Evelyn F. Benner (2003); Mike Meunier, Sr. (2004); Arthur F. Benner (2005); Pamela J. Robinson (2006); Anna E. White (2007); John E. Lafreniere (2008); Cathy Mendoza (2009); Kate Tarleton (2010); John Cobb (2011); Thomas Goyoski Jr. (2012); Kevin Woodward (2013); Kate Lanagan MacGregor (2014); Gordon Helme (2015); Doreen DeCosta (2016); Danni Kleiman (2017); Pamela and Oren Robinson of It’s All About the Animals (2018); Ann Cambra (2019).
Please send the name, address, and telephone number of recommended nominees, along with a brief description of their key contributions to the community and why you feel they are deserving of this honor to: news@wanderer.com, or via mail, Keel Award, The Wanderer, P.O. Box 102, Mattapoisett, MA 02739.
The deadline for nominations is Thursday, July 17, by 3:00 pm.