Times Review Media Group honored more than a dozen local residents for their service and work in the community as the 2017 People of the Year.
The winners, who were announced in the first issue of the newspaper in January, were formally honored with plaques and video tributes during the Thursday night ceremony at Martha Clara Vineyards in Riverhead.
The annual awards, which have been handed out since 1987, are given to leaders in public and community service, education, business and sports. The overall News-Review Person of the Year for 2017 was Byron Perez.
Other winners from Riverhead included the News-Review’s Public Servant of the Year, Richard Ligon; Educator of the Year, Felicia Scocozza; Businessperson of the Year, Irwin Garsten; Community Leader of the Year, Ron Fisher and Sportsperson of the Year, Bill Hedges.
The event was sponsored by Peoples United Bank with food supplied by Plated Simply. Additional partners in the event were Mattituck Florist, Mattituck Greenport Laundry and Sav-On Printing.
Photo caption: The News-Review’s People of the Year (from left): Dawn Vogel and Linda Hulse representing Irwin Garsten, Byron Perez, Ron Fisher, Bill Hedges, Curtis Flippen and Lynn Ligon representing Richard Ligon, and Felicia Scocozza. (Credit: Madison Fender)