The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Who should be our 2017 Person of the Year?
It’s time to name The Register Citizen’s Person of the Year for 2017, and once again we want your nominations! Deadline for nominations is Dec. 8, so hurry up and nominate your person today!
The Person of the Year is someone who has had an impact, worked for change or pursued a passion that has made a difference in the greater Torrington area.
On Dec. 26 at registercitizen.com, and in the print newspaper, we’ll reveal our choice based on the people you have nominated.
The Register Citizen started to profile a Person of the Year in 2011, but our sister publication, the New Haven Register, has featured a Person of the Year since 2004.
Last year’s Person of the Year for The Register Citizen was Owen Quinn. The former mayor and exeutive director of the United Way of Northwest Connecticut was chosen because of his long-time public service and lifelong devotion to making other people’s lives better in the Torrington area.
Our 2015 Person of the Year was Deirdre Houlihan DiCara, the executive director of Friends in Service to Humanity, for her continuing efforts to help those in need and substantial history of good work done in and for the Northwest Corner.
The 2014 Person of the Year was Ken Merz for his efforts in helping move Torrington forward. Merz, secretary of O&G Industries, has a long history of working on different boards in the city that have worked diligently to grow the arts and entertainment industry of the downtown Torrington area. He has been involved with both the Warner Theatre and the KidsPlay museum, and his efforts have helped draw visitors to the city from all over the state.
In 2013, our Person of the Year was Barbara Spiegel, who fights for the rights of domestic violence and sexual assault victims in the Torrington area. As executive director of Torrington’s Susan B. Anthony Project, Spiegel was on the forefront of the response to a rape case that shed light on the problem of bullying and rape culture at the city’s high school.
The 2012 Person of the Year was former state Sen. Andrew Roraback, who later became a Superior Court judge, in recognition of his service representing Northwest Connecticut as a legislator and the manner in which he conducted his campaign for Congress the prior year.
In 2011, three people were honored together, the co-founders of Torrington Downtown Partners Steven Temkin, Steven Roth and David Bender, for doing more to help revitalization efforts over the course of a year than others had done in more than 30.
The three brought the community into the conversation about what a private landlord does, recognizing that the properties they were acquiring were important to the city, and offered the public a stake in their efforts after buying more than 120,000 square feet in the city’s decaying downtown.
The Person of the Year can come from any field: government, education, social services, the arts, sports, business. He or she doesn’t have to be the ONE person who changed the face of Northwest Connecticut. We doubt there would be that one person anyway. But it should be someone whose achievement made the area a richer place. Someone who stepped up when needed.
Make your nominations on our Facebook page or email editor@registercitizen.com with “Person of the Year” in the subject line.