
Last week The Gazette held our first-ever Hammy Awards event at the Eagle Theatre.
More than 150 people were in attendance and the winners in around 100 categories were announced.
Hammonton High School’s Jeff Dey and Dave Maimone of the Hammonton Hawks were each chosen at “Coach of the Year” for high school and youth sports, respectively.
Among the winners was me, as I took home the first-ever “Media Personality” Hammy Award.
While I was glad to win, I was happier to see one of our reporters, Kristin Guglietti, be one of the finalists.
Kristin does an outstanding job reporting a wide range of stories for the newspaper, and she has built many great relationships with people around town. She makes our paper better, and the recognition that the Hammy's brought was well-deserved.
The other finalist in the category was “Nor’easter” Nick Pittman, local meteorologist and a Hammonton High School grad. Nick is someone I really didn’t expect to beat out, as he has a large following of loyal fans, and I’m sure he’ll be tough to win against next year.
As for the award itself, it’s humbling to win it.
When I saw we were having that category, I definitely wanted to win, and I’ll admit I campaigned a little bit.
I owe some thanks to the Hammonton High School boys track team, who gave their support, as well as Best Coach finalist Paul Rodio and the St. Joseph Academy boys basketball team, which also sent a few votes my way.
The “campaign” was all in fun, and I’ve already started thinking about next year’s, maybe some signs and buttons, a real grass-roots campaign.
While the Hammy's are certainly designed to fun, they were also created to recognize local businesses and people who have shown excellence in what they do, and it’s an honor to be included among so many great winners.
Of course, thanks needs to go to all who voted for me. For almost three decades (this fall season will be my 28th covering local sports), I’ve tried to provide the best coverage of as many teams and athletes as possible. Sometimes the stories are very good, and sometimes they’re not, but for a long time people in Hammonton have always offered up their opinions, and I appreciate all the kind and sometimes critical words.
Finally, I need to thank my team at The Gazette. What you see in the paper each week is the effort of some very hard-working, dedicated people; people who care about Hammonton and its residents.
So, while I can celebrate winning a Hammy Award this year, the truth is it belongs to everyone on our staff, because without them, I wouldn’t be able to deliver local sports to anyone.
Dan Russoman is the news/sports director of The Gazette. Follow Russoman on X @DanRussoman.
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