- November 22, 2024
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Who deserves a Standing O this year? What are the criteria?
A few years ago we decided to let those answers rest entirely in the hands of last year’s winners. It has become a December tradition to contact the current Standing O’s and ask them to select someone they feel deserves recognition, for any variety of reasons. It’s a gesture of goodwill, lending the spotlight to someone else in the community.
But I have to admit, I tried to talk one person out of her choice. Lynette Shott was a Standing O in 2019. She was on the executive team for Flagler Schools at the time and has since retired and moved out of state, but I reached her by phone to ask for her choice for 2020. She chose Joe Rizzo, the executive director of the Flagler County Education Foundation.
“I love Joe, he’s great,” I said, “but I just did a whole Your Neighbors cover story about him a month or so ago, and I wouldn’t want to do a repeat. Anyone else come to mind?”
I figured Shott would cave under such intense pressure. Not so.
“I wish you would reconsider that,” she wrote in an email. “The Standing O’s are growing into a solid annual platform of impactful people on Flagler County. Outside of other stories, it carries a value. Please let me know.”
Well, I couldn’t say no to that. I love the idea that being named a Standing O is an honor, often for an unsung hero. The sentiment represents what the Observer is all about: inspiring the community and writing about your neighbors.
You probably don’t know everyone in these pages yet, but hopefully if you see them in the grocery store, you’ll remember them and say hello. This is their time to shine.
Whispering Meadows team
Stephanie Ear, Department of Health
Cpl. Robert Tarczewski, FCSO
Sue Bickings, The Sheltering Tree
Patty Mercer, AdventHealth
Joe Rizzo, Education Foundation
Maria Ruiz, Belle Terre teacher
Michael Struble, chiropractor
Richard Hamilton, Flagler County
Annie Buchanan, Flagler Palm Coast student
Lovie Haley, Matanzas student
