Hewitt Award celebrates 50th year of service and recognition of scholar-athletes

Past honorees urged to contact Mount St. Mary's board of associates

The Hewitt Award Scholarship Program is celebrating its 50th year of providing scholarships in recognition of excellence of high school student-athletes. The Mount St. Mary's Hospital board of associates presents the annual program, which provides recognition to the top male and female scholar-athletes from nine area high schools.

This year, organizers are reaching out to past honorees to involve them in the dinner. Past honorees, and anyone who knows an honoree, is urged to contact the board of associates by contacting Fred Caso at 716-298-2146 or [email protected].

The award began in 1966 when Jerry Steiner of Lewiston-Porter High School was recognized. Since that time, 90 male and female athletes have been recognized.

"We are proud to continue our program that places a deserving spotlight on exceptional students and athletes," said James Fernandez, chair of the program and president of George Optical in Niagara Falls. "Our group of volunteers wants to invite all of our past honorees to be our guests and join us at this year's award's dinner on Sunday, May 3, at Niagara County Community College.

Past honorees include:

1966 Jerry Steiner, Lewiston-Porter

1967 Ernest Kitchen, Niagara Falls

1968 Oscar Colvin, LaSalle

1969 Richard Diez, Lewiston-Porter

1970 Daniel McMahon, Lewiston-Porter

1971 Steven Hoffman, Lewiston-Porter

1972 Robert Williams, Bishop Duffy

1973 Robert Sloand, Niagara-Wheatfield

1974 Daniel Oliverio, LaSalle

1975 Anthony Paradowski, LaSalle

1976 Edward Farnham, Niagara-Wheatfield; Charles Pitarresi, LaSalle

1977 Suzanne Brown, Niagara-Wheatfield

1978 Maureen Ann Strick, Wilson; Mary Beth Moss, LaSalle; Richard Hillman, Wilson; Thomas Kaiser, Lewiston-Porter

1979 Linda Castek, Lewiston-Porter; Randy White, Grand Island

1980 Andorra Howard and Mark Gabriele, Niagara Catholic

1981 Kathleen Dorries, Lewiston-Porter; Gerry Pullano, Niagara Catholic

1982 Marjorie Bessell, Grand Island; Michael Tisack, Starpoint

1983 Megan McMahan, Lewiston-Porter; and Theodore Figura, Wilson

1984 James Hagerty, Niagara-Wheatfield; and Cassie Rizzo, Starpoint

1985 Bethany Joslyn, Grand Island; and David Clawson, Lewiston-Porter

1986 Elena Morreale, Niagara Catholic; and Roger Smith, Niagara Falls

1987 Amy Sayward, Starpoint; and Michael Cummings, Lewiston-Porter

1988 BethAnne Gavazzi, Niagara Catholic; and Tom Teaman, Niagara Falls

1989 Kristen Rogers, Niagara Falls; and Joseph Myrtle, Niagara Falls

1990 Kristin Savory, Grand Island; Chi Nguyen, Wilson

1991 John Rizzo, Niagara Falls; Carla Swartz, LaSalle

1992 Michael Zarrillo, Niagara-Wheatfield; Mary Poole, Lewiston-Porter

1993 Rebecca Peters, Starpoint; Christopher Tassy, Grand Island

1994 Elizabeth Botzer, Wilson; Michael White, Wilson

1995 Michele Scalzo, Wilson; R. Gregory Oulette, Lewiston-Porter

1996 Kimberlee McGrath, Wilson; Joseph Catanese, Niagara Catholic

1997 Holly Miskey, Starpoint; Edward Lee, Grand Island

1998 Yi Xie, Grand Island; Thomas Evans, Wilson

1999 Jill Conover and John Stickl Jr., Grand Island

2000 Faith Thompson, Niagara Falls; Jesse Buzzard, Wilson

2001 Dana Montazzoli, Starpoint; Matthew Fuerch, Niagara-Wheatfield; Philip Olsen, Lewiston-Porter

2002 Sally Head, Grand Island; Vincent Cauley, Niagara Falls

2003 Allie Massaro, Lewiston Porter; Matt White, Starpoint

2004 Elizabeth Scholl, Niagara-Wheatfield; Douglas H. Ingraham, Grand Island

2005 Amanda George and Robert D. Goris, Grand Island

2006 Marion Singleton, Lockport; Daniel Dykstra, Wilson

2007 Michele Schaffer, Niagara-Wheatfield; Brandon Bova, Starpoint

2008 Mary Rachel Robbins, Lockport; Sean Hoffman, North Tonawanda

2009 David Khatib, Lewiston-Porter; Karianne Kopchick, Wilson

2010 Andrew Perilli, Lockport; Jenna VanDusen, Lewiston-Porter

2011 Stephen Vitello, Grand Island; Hannah Matthews, Lewiston-Porter

2012 Megan Karpie, Grand Island; Nicholas Filippini, Starpoint

2013 Lauren Wager, Lockport; Tayler Thilk, Wilson

2014 Angela Gallo, Lewiston-Porter; Jake Schoelles, Niagara-Wheatfield