The Islander takes pride in recognizing members of the Anna Maria Island community for their unselfish contributions and genuine concern for making this slice of paradise an even better place to live.
Since the newspaper started up in 1992, its path was to partner with community organizations, report the news of record and tell the tales of people who live and work on AMI.
We launched an Islander of the Year award to recognize deserving people. The honor was presented posthumously to the late Anna Maria Mayor Ernie Cagnina in 1993 and Anna Maria Mayor Ray Simches in 1994.
Katie Pierola was the 1995 recipient of The Islander’s annual award. During her six years as mayor of Bradenton Beach, the city underwent a renaissance.
She embodied the definition of a public servant in her tireless efforts to improve both her city and Anna Maria Island.
Pierola played an instrumental role in the beach renourishment program and the prevention of a proposed Cortez megabridge.
W.H. “Snooks” Adams was 1996 Islander of the year. He was born in Cortez, and spent much of his life on Anna Maria Island as a law enforcement officer who used common sense as his guide.
He started Snooks Adams Kids Day in 1954, an end-of-school tradition that was later taken over by the Anna Maria Island Privateers.
Charles Lester and Jo Ann Lester fell in love with Anna Maria Island and along with it, the Anna Maria Island Community Center. They put their money where their hearts are, both here and in the small towns in Wisconsin where they also reside half the year.
The established an endowment for the Anna Maria Island Community Center and a fundraising campaign. We honored them as 1997 Islanders of the year.
Jim Kronus, retired from 25 years as Anna Maria Island Elementary School principal, and was named 1998 Islander of the Year.
Suzi Fox was recognized for her efforts in organizing volunteers to protect sea turtles in 1999.
Nancy Ambrose was named 2000 Islander of the year for her impact on the Holmes Beach Butterfly Park.
The original keeper of the island’s history is Carolyne Norwood, Islander of the Year in 2001. Anna Maria Island Historical Society, its museum and the old jail and Belle Haven Cottage all are thanks to the vision of Carolyne Norwood.
Billie Martini, 2002. Her finest achievement while a commissioner for Holmes Beach may be the realization of the Grassy Point Preserve. Martini first eyed the undeveloped area for preservation.
Ilona and Jeff Kenrick were The Islander newspaper’s Islanders of the Year for 2003.
While managing the Taylor Family Foundation, whose international aid amounted to about $1 million a year, the Kenricks created a blood drive that included a reward for blood donors, a cash payout to the donor’s choice of four Island charities. It was a win-win and we thank them for their positive impact here and beyond.
Jeff Croley, 2004 Islander of the Year, represented all the good qualities we could ask for in a volunteer — he quietly went on his own, delivering aid to those in need in remote areas immediately after Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. And he took vacation time from work to do his good deeds.
If there is a symbol for Anna Maria Island, it is the sword-wielding, cannon-firing, ship-riding benevolent crew of the Anna Maria Island Privateers.
For all the good they do year after year, 2005 stood out for their efforts on behalf of one unfortunate little boy.
It only took a phone call to bring the Privateers and their ship to greet a young boy with a failing heart on a “wish” trip to Anna Maria Island.
The Privateers also came to the rescue with Hurricane Katrina relief. They initiated a memorial scholarship fund for an island teen Bridget Miller, who had been killed in a car crash.
They did all this and more — despite the sudden illness and deaths that year of president Greg “Shiprek” Davidson and Dick Cline.
They were our 2005 choice for Islanders of the Year.
Pete Lannon, 2006 Islander of the Year. If there ever was a person who brought out the best in the Anna Maria Island community, it was Pete Lannon.
He was more than a Holmes Beach police officer, he was a mentor for our children, a confidant for people in need and a friendly face at Anna Maria Elementary School, where he was resource office for more than five years.
He lost a tough battle with cancer that year and he is still missed by many.
Following the death of Christine Olson’s 22-year-old daughter, Tiffiany, in a motorcycle crash, Olson sought to connect people in emergencies with loved ones and family members who “need to know.”
Her quest to allow emergency contact information be included with driver’s licenses was a success. We thank Olson for making a difference in the lives of many, and for taking her initiative to other states and the federal government.
Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, 2008 Islander of the Year. Cheers to the organization that runs the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival and dedicates the proceeds to preserving Cortez, including the Burton store, the old schoolhouse, and the 90-plus acres that provide a buffer to the village from encroaching development.
It is an honor for Anna Maria Island to be home to the first lady of Florida, Rhea Chiles, and to have her return after the death of Gov. Lawton Chiles.
AMI embraced Rhea. Little did we know she would bring with her culture, education, arts and artists, and a sense of nature and the beauty around us — the Studio at Gulf and Pine.
Combined with the generosity and vision of son Ed Chiles, owner of a trio of landmark restaurants on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key, we have a legacy for the future.
Rhea and Ed Chiles were our honorees in 2009.
The Geyer family was our 2010 Islander of the Year. You may have known Pat as mayor or commissioner, or maybe Mom, but for many years, hundreds, if not thousands of islanders grew to love her as Miss Duffy.
Patricia A. Geyer, proprietress of Duffy’s Tavern, died May 1, 2010, at age 79, but she is remembered still.
She served 18 years on the city commission and was elected mayor from 1990-94. During her public service, she demonstrated her courage and conviction, and her willingness to always listen to the people.
And listen she did. She had an ear — and respect — for all opinions that came across the bar at Duffy’s Tavern, the quaint and quirky hamburger joint she ran for more than 35 years.
The Geyers began operating Duffy’s Tavern on Gulf Drive across from the Manatee Public Beach in 1971.
But it wasn’t just Miss Duffy who did the island proud. She had loads of help from husband Ed, who kept a pot of bean soup at the ready and held calls about politics at bay. They raised five girls, who all put in their time at the grill, at the bar, or whatever was needed by Mom.
Pat Geyer was known for her quiet humor, as well as her fierce loyalty to family, work, causes, politics and principle, and she managed to pass that along to her girls.
And they — and now their families, too — all contribute to community events, fundraisers and the family business.
Miss Duffy earned many accolades, but surely none pleased her more than the simple appreciation for her family, her political service and her food.
Pat Geyer gave her family and Anna Maria Island a great gift — and they carry on her traditions.
For those reasons, the Geyers were our choice for Islander of the year 2010.
The Privateers, Islanders of the Year for 2011, are our only repeat winner in 19 years of news-making.
Much deserved, much applauded and cheered.
They brought revelry and excitement to all three cities during their 40th anniversary year under the leadership of Roger “Hoodat” Murphree. The captures at all three city halls were lifetime adventures for the city officials, particularly the mayors, some who found themselves shackled to the mast on the Skullywag — the Privateer float/boat — with ransom to be paid by staff and citizens before their release.
It was a very good year for the Privateers, a crew that proved both worth its weight in gold — raising more than $40,000 for kids and community in a year — and their continuing service and entertainment on Anna Maria Island.
Arrrrrgh! Here’s to 40 years of Privateers … and many more.
On to 2012, and we came to recognize a crusade of sorts by one woman to fill the island pantry, the Roser Church Food Pantry.
While we don’t all see the benefits, the food pantry and its chair Pam Leckie — who literally brought the pantry out of a church closet to a place of its own — can be most proud of their assistance to islanders.
In 2012, Leckie and her fellow volunteers distributed almost 1,500 bags of food. Each recipient also received a gift card to purchase fresh foods.
Leckie and her volunteers, packers and beggars for donations, proved they are among the best of the best by coming to the aid with groceries for the out-of-work employees of the Rod & Reel Pier.
2013: Former Anna Maria Commissioner Gene Aubry — a renaissance man.
He’s empowered with seemingly limitless knowledge, embracing the sort of great thinking that we so seldom see, so much so that less accomplished people often fail to recognize his significance.
If you haven’t heard him play guitar, you may not recognize his range of talent. If you don’t know of his many architectural achievements, you might doubt this quiet man had reached such heights. If you don’t know of his art — the simple, fine lines and subtle colors that capture moments in time like no photograph could — you may not appreciate his refined taste.
He may no longer serve Anna Maria on the commission, but he isn’t giving up on this place he loves. Surrender is not in his character.
Aubry holds the course.
At the close of 2014, we honored the effort of a one-woman force to save seabirds — Jeannie Bystrom. She made a difference by not only saving seabirds day after day and recruiting others to help, more so for pushing for better education and regulations to protect a valuable environmental asset.
For 2015, for the lessons we learned from her loss, the free spirit and generosity she brought to her life, and for the closure she finally provided from her resting place on the beach, we honor the memory of Sabine Musil-Buehler.
The long-awaited answers since her disappearance Nov. 4, 2008, came to light in the Oct. 15 confession of her killer. And thus we came to know her suffering.
We will celebrate Sabine in the final sunset for 2015 on Anna Maria Island and hope for an end to domestic violence in 2016.
We celebrate Islanders all. — Bonner Joy