Honorees and their guests joined the Times Review Media staff along with newly elected town supervisors Al Krupski and Tim Hubbard to share stories and express their thanks and gratitude to the entire North Fork community during a cocktail reception at The Vineyards at Aquebogue.

The annual awards, which have been handed out since 1987, recognize leaders in local public and community service, education, business and sports by the editorial staff of The Suffolk Times, Riverhead News-Review, and Shelter Island Reporter newspapers as well as the Northforker and Southforker lifestyle brands.

“The best part of our People of the Year awards reception is when we hear directly from the award recipients themselves because they are so impressive and mean so much to our community,” said Times Review Media Group publisher Andrew Olsen. “As journalists we are incredibly honored to tell their stories.”

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Supervisors Al Krupski and Tim Hubbard at the 2023 People of the Year award reception. (photo credit: Jeremy Garretson) Diane Wilhelm accepts the Public Servant of the Year award. (photo credit: Jeremy Garretson) John McAuliff accepts the 2023 Person of the Year award on behalf of EPCAL Watch. (photo credit: Jeremy Garretson) Luis Siguencia accepts the award for 2023 Business Person of the Year. (Jeremy Garretson photo) Kate Fullam, executive director of East End Food, accepts the 2023 Community Leader of the Year award. (photo credit: Jeremy Garretson) Caitlin Gould and Tracy Von Eschen accept the 2023 Educator of the Year award on behalf of the Shoreham-Wading River special education department. (photo credit: Jeremy Garretson) Paolo Bartolani accepts the Northforker of the Year award for 2023. (photo credit: Jeremy Garretson)

When John McAuliff took a lead role in the campaign opposing a controversial development proposal at Enterprise Park in Calverton, he brought a lifetime’s worth of activism to the table. John has been working since the early 1960s to promote reconciliation and healing and build commonality all over the world. A Peace Corps vet who went to Mississippi for 1964’s Freedom Summer voter registration campaign, John went on to champion post war reconciliation in Southeast Asia, and more recently in Cuba. As his wife Mary eloquently described him to us, John “believes fiercely in this country, and in its democracy, and in what it can be. He wants to help America be good, be right, live up to its values, its morals, its ideals.”

“I was by no means singly responsible [for EPCAL Watch],” Mr. McAuliff said upon receiving his Person of the Year award Thursday. “I just had the biggest mouth … it was the [local news] publications that helped turn what we were doing into a community sentiment.”

Since taking the helm as executive director at the East End Food Institute, now known as East End Food, Kate Fullam has worked tirelessly to realize the organization’s top goal of creating a more sustainable and equitable local food ecosystem. For her remarkable efforts connecting farmers and food producers directly with the community, Ms. Fullam was named Riverhead News-Review’s 2023 Community Leader of the year.

The educators at Shoreham-Wading River Central School District’s special education department, have experienced plenty of “aha” moments—both big and small— when they realize this is the profession they were meant to pursue. Whether it’s students showing off their talents on stage, scoring their first-ever points on a basketball court or learning to cook meals for their families, these are all significant accomplishments. These teachers are not only educators, but advocates, motivators, sources of comfort and their students’ biggest cheerleaders.

“I work with the most amazing educators; I agree that they deserve this,” Tracy Von Eschen, SWR’s director of special education, said upon receiving the 2023 Educators of the Year award on behalf of the department. “I’m so grateful to the children we have the honor of educating.”

More than a quarter-century of distinguished service to the Town of Riverhead came to a close last month at a spirited, jam-packed retirement party for Diane Wilhelm, Riverhead’s beloved longtime town clerk. Everybody at the party talked about Diane’s kindness and humility, her easy laugh and her absolute mastery of a job that demands a wide portfolio of knowledge. For her decades of service to Riverhead, her sincere joy in helping others and her reliably great sense of humor, Ms. Wilhelm was named Riverhead News-Review’s 2023 Public Servant of the Year. 

“Thank you so much for this honor; I’m completely overwhelmed,” Ms. Wilhelm said. “I want to congratulate all the award recipients this evening … We are very very lucky to have all these people in our community who do such wonderful things.”

Luis Siguencia, owner of Golden Jalapeños Café in Calverton, was honored as 2023’s Business Person of the Year for his years of giving back to veterans and those in need within the community. Since opening Golden Jalapeños in 2014, Mr. Siguencia has offered free Thanksgiving meals to families in need. “He’ll help anyone, and he tries to hire people that can use the help,” one friend and fellow volunteer said.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Siguencia remarked how deeply impacted he was when learning of the valiant efforts of U.S. veterans while studying for his citizenship test. He never forgot that and decided to give back, especially to vets, whenever and however he can.

Troy and Caryn Albert of Wading River have been working to bring ice hockey to the East End since 2015, when their son first began playing. On November 25 of last year, eight years after the initiative began, the Ed Westfall Arena opened in Calverton. For their efforts, their ingenuity and their commitment to make this dream a reality for hockey lovers across the region, Mr. and Mrs. Albert are The News-Review’s 2023 Sports People of the Year. 

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More party pics celebrating the 2023 People of the Year. (photo credit: Jeremy Garretson)

For sharing his vision, passion and talent, and bringing The Rites of Spring Music Festival to life, Paolo Bartolani was named 2023’s Northforker of the Year.

“I don’t want to talk about me; I want to talk about the Rites of Spring Music Festival,” Mr. Bartolani said upon receiving his award. “Our goal is to bring music and outstanding musicians close to the community. We are constantly looking for new partnerships. We are so honored and so proud to be part of this community.”

The post Celebrating the News-Review’s 2023 People of the Year appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

“Diane has been a treasure,” Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said in an interview, describing Ms. Wilhelm as one of the warmest and most talented professionals with whom she has ever worked. “The entire community loves her.” 

Ms. Wilhelm was appointed town clerk in November 2008 then elected to the office a year later. Prior to that she served as the town’s records management officer, registrar of vital statistics and marriage officiant.

“She’s like the most amazing person ever,” said colleague Carol Del Vecchio, a senior account clerk in the town clerk’s office. “She’s very dedicated to the town, to the employees and to the people of the town. She’s very caring and understanding. She’s always trying to help everyone. She goes the extra mile above and beyond everything.”

Deputy town clerk Juliann O’Neill said that when Ms. Wilhelm is not working, she’s an active longtime volunteer in Riverhead, including with Riverhead Townscape, the nonprofit organizers of the Riverhead Country Fair, and at St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church. 

“Whenever there’s a need for any kind of volunteer work,” Ms. O’Neill said, “she will be one of the first to put her hand up and help.” 

During her tenure, Ms. Wilhelm has digitized much of the town’s records, including minutes of Town Board meetings that stretch back to 1792 and are now available on the town’s website. 

“That’s as far as you possibly can go, because the town was founded in 1792,” Ms. Wilhelm told Riverhead News-Review last year. 

The huge project was realized with a $60,000 grant she sought and received from the New York State Archives, which funded a complete review, purge, index and cataloging of archived records. 

The clerk’s office also began accepting credit cards under Ms. Wilhelm. 

Ms. Wilhelm was an active member of the Nassau/Suffolk Town Clerks Association and the New York State Town Clerks Association, where she served as district director from 2013 to 2016. Through the state clerks association, Ms. Wilhelm earned certification as a registered municipal clerk. 

Deputy town supervisor Devon Higgins said that Ms. Wilhelm is both a friend and a role model. 

“She is an absolute gem. I’ve been working with her only for four years, which — certainly relative to other folks here at Town Hall — is not as long. But I can tell you, she was my first friend at Town Hall. She has a heart the size of Texas. And when I tell you she is probably one of the most helpful people in Town Hall, I mean that — whether you’re a constituent, whether you’re a fellow employee, whether you’re Joe Blow off the street, it doesn’t matter. She just is absolutely always willing to help and be of service. And I think that’s one of the reasons why she has been such an effective town clerk, because she truly, truly cares.” 

Ms. Higgins added that Ms. Wilhelm is also a trusted counselor.

“She had two giant chairs in her office, in the old [Town Hall on Howell Avenue] … I used to joke with her that was my therapy chair. And I would sometimes go in and say, ‘Okay, I’m here for therapy.’ We joke and she’d say, ‘Okay, what’s going on?’ We would joke, but she sort of is the matriarch in some ways, sort of the wise, kind of calming presence that everybody looks to now and again.” 

Receiver of Taxes Laurie Zaneski has risen through the ranks with her friend, Ms. Wilhelm. 

“We both started as deputies to our elected officials. So I was the tax receiver’s office’s deputy. She was in the clerk’s [office] … then Diane and I ran [for office] together, and we’ve been running together ever since. 

“Our first year we were both opposed. And then after that the Democrats and the Republicans were like, ‘Diane, so well-known and loved. Laurie’s so well-known. We’re not going to run anyone against them because it’s a waste of the committee’s money.’ So Diane and I have been like, running buddies ever since.”

Others said Ms. Wilhelm’s passion for helping people springs from her humility.

“She is one of the most humble people I know,” deputy receiver of taxes Lisa Richards said in an interview at Ms. Wilhelm’s retirement party. “She wasn’t going to come here tonight, because this was going to be about her and she didn’t want the attention. She’s just a really great person.”

For her decades of sterling service to Riverhead, her sincere joy in helping others and her reliably great sense of humor, Diane Wilhelm is the Riverhead News-Review’s 2023 Public Servant of the Year. 

Previous Winners

2022: Steve Shauger & Kristy Verity
2021: Dawn Thomas
2019: Allen Smith
2018: Dashan Briggs
2017: Richard Ligon
2016: Tom Lateulere
2015: Susan Wilk
2014: Carl James
2013: Dennis Cavanagh
2012: Ed Romaine
2011: George Woodson
2010: Robert Brown
2009: Barbara Grattan
2008: Liz Stokes
2007: Michael Reichel
2006: Gary Pendzick
2005: The Riverhead Ambulance Corps
2004: Richard Wines
2003: Ken Testa
2002: “KeySpan Coalition”
2001: Ed Densieski
2000: Judge Richard Ehlers
1999: Barbara Blass
1998: Vicki Staciwo
1997: Lenard Makowski
1996: Buildings & Grounds
1995: Jack Hansen
1994: Jim Stark
1993: Rick Hanley
1992: Lawyer Jackson
1991: Andrea Lohneiss
1990: Monique Gablenz
1989: George Bartunek
1988: Patricia Tormey

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