Coach Shelley Blair with special Olympian Matthew Smith.
Shelley Blair, right, with two special Special Olympians – Tegan Crotty and Jarrod Gilbert.
Each year The News in Cambridge and Te Awamutu asks readers to help us select two very special people.
The News person of the year award is entering is fourth year as a twin award – with one person honoured in the Cambridge News and another in the Te Awamutu News.
So, in the words of Aussie band Men at Work – who should it be now?
Cambridge has had five people of the year – in order, Linda Roil, Jan Nesbit, Rosemary Hill, Julie Epps, Don Gerrand and, in a break with tradition, a school – we gave the award last year to Karāpiro School in recognition of its work to reduce speed limits on the State Highway 1 in Karāpiro.
The award was first given by the then newborn Te Awamutu News in 2019 to Ryan Fleming – whose weekly columns appear on page 2 of the Te Awamutu News – then Chris Graham, Mandy Merson and, last year, Special Olympics coach Shelley Blair.
So, who should be next, readers?
Who is that that outstanding sports person, the community worker, the politician, the business leader, the behind the scenes worker, the teacher, the emergency worker – the person who you think is deserving of being celebrated in our last edition of 2023 on December 21?
Editor Roy Pilott is putting out the challenge to his team – Mary Anne Gill, Jeremy Smith, Viv Posselt and Steph Bell-Jenkins to come up with two names – and he wants our readers’ input.
- Do you have a contender for the 2023 awards? Email Roy at editor@goodlocal.nz
