x
  1. Home
  2.  News
  3.  Local News

Warwick's 2018-19 Citizen of the Year Awards ceremony held at Landmark Inn

| 01 Nov 2018 | 01:03
    Photos by Roger Gavan At the annual Warwick Valley Rotary Club presentation of the Citizen of the Year and Outstanding Community Service awards celebration on Oct. 24 are, from left: Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Citizen of the Year co-Chair Stan Martin, Marge King-Porter, Doug Stage, Sue Gardner and Warwick Rotary President Ed Wiley.
    Photos by Roger Gavan At the annual Warwick Valley Rotary Club presentation of the Citizen of the Year and Outstanding Community Service awards celebration on Oct. 24 are, from left: Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Citizen of the Year co-Chair Stan Martin, Marge King-Porter, Doug Stage, Sue Gardner and Warwick Rotary President Ed Wiley.
    Citizen of the Year Doug Stage (left) will join a long list of Citizens of the Year inscribed on a plaque, held by Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, that will hang in Town Hall.
    Citizen of the Year Doug Stage (left) will join a long list of Citizens of the Year inscribed on a plaque, held by Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, that will hang in Town Hall.
    Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton presents an award for Outstanding Community Service to Marge King-Porter.
    Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton presents an award for Outstanding Community Service to Marge King-Porter.
    Mayor Michael Newhard presented a Village Proclamation to Outstanding Community Service Award winner Sue Gardner. .
    Mayor Michael Newhard presented a Village Proclamation to Outstanding Community Service Award winner Sue Gardner. .

By Roger Gavan
WARWICK — The historic Landmark Inn was filled to capacity on Wednesday evening, Oct. 24, for the annual Warwick Valley Rotary Club presentation of the Citizen of the Year and Outstanding Community Service awards celebration.
Guests enjoyed an open bar social hour and hors d'oeuvres prepared by award winning chef/owner Michael DiMartino and served throughout the evening.
Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton served as Master of Ceremonies and presented the awards. County Legislator Barry Cheney and Mayor Michael Newhard presented special proclamations to each recipient.
Stan Martin and Leo Kaytes Sr., both former Warwick Rotary presidents and Citizens of the Year, co-chaired the event for the 12th consecutive year.
A special guest of honor this year was District Polio Plus Chair and a former Rotary District Governor Carole Tjoa.
Sweeton presented Doug Stage with the 2018-19 Warwick Citizen of the Year award and Marge King-Porter and Sue Gardner each received Outstanding Community Service Awards for their numerous and important contributions to the community.
Doug StageDoug Stage, who was born and raised in Warwick and is a fourth generation member of the law office of Stage & Nathans, has been a lifelong volunteer going back to his high school days.
Organizations that have benefited from his service and leadership include but are not limited to Warwick Ambulance, Jaycees, Lions, Rotary, Cemetery Association, Bon Secours Community Hospital Foundation Board, Warwick Little League and Warwick Soccer League coach, Chamber of Commerce and Warwick Historical Society.
Stage will now join a long list of Citizens of the Year inscribed on a plaque that hangs in Town Hall.
Marge King-PorterOutstanding Community Service Award-winner Marge King-Porter, a successful businesswoman, decorator, stager and gardener, has quietly been contributing to the community with a variety of programs and using her organizational skills to help raise thousands of dollars for community non-profits.
They include the St. Anthony Community Hospital Auxiliary (SACHA), the Bon Secours Warwick Health Care Foundation's Winding through Warwick House Tour, Winslow Therapeutic Riding Center, Warwick Rotary, Warwick in Bloom and Warwick's Humane Society.
Sue GardnerOutstanding Community Service Award winner Sue Gardner serves as deputy Warwick Town historian and has worked on numerous volunteer activities at the Warwick Historical Society, Friends of Hathorn House, Wisner Public Library and town and Orange County historical projects.
Her numerous accomplishments in preserving the history of Warwick include three historical CD's, an exhibit and subsequent web site "Stone Age Warwick, New York," and, along with volunteer assistants, indexing and categorizing boxes of original papers, ledgers, photographs, maps and manuscripts that would eventually be available to the public.
Gardner's contribution to the local history sections on the Albert Wisner Public Library's Website are a valuable resource for anyone interested in Warwick's past.
Her most recent accomplishment involved successfully working to save and restore the historical home of General John Hathorn at the corner of Hathorn Road and County 1.