The honors were presented following a keynote speech by former Gov. Paul Patton, during which he stressed the importance of economic development in eastern Kentucky.
Rep. Hal Rogers, who represents the 5th Congressional District and who recently took the reigns of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, was named the Man of the Year.
Rogers, a Somerset resident, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981 and is the nation’s longest serving Republican member of Congress. He helped form and fund organizations such as PRIDE, Operation UNITE, Southeast Kentucky Economic Development and TOUR Southern and Eastern Kentucky.
Tammi Gorman was named Woman of the Year, and considering her vast involvement in the local community she was already a familiar name around Perry County.
Though Gorman holds a steady job with LKLP, she also finds time for a myriad of local causes. She serves as a board member on several boards, including the chamber of commerce and Hazard-Perry County Community Ministries among others, and also serves as the PRIDE coordinator for the City of Hazard and vice chair for the Perry County UNITE Coalition.
Will Fugate, this year’s Young Man of the Year, spends the day as a commercial loan officer for Community Trust Bank in Hazard, but he has also remained busy with several community projects. A past president of the Hazard Kiwanis Club, Fugate was instrumental in the formation of the Herman Maggard Park in Lothair. Also a graduate of Hazard High School where he was all-state in band and chorus, Fugate uses his musical talents for charity work.
Finally, the Young Woman of the Year was honored, and this year’s recipient has been extremely active, most recently as co-chair of the Kentucky River March of Dimes event held earlier this month.
In addition to her work with the March of Dimes, Amy Morgan is a youth leader at Community Presbyterian Church in Lothair, she coaches Little League and contributes to the local homeless shelter. She is also the marketing coordinator of Employee Resource Group, which manages Applebee’s and Wendy’s, and is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University.
A first during Monday’s program was the presentation of the William D. Gorman Humanitarian Award, named for the late Hazard mayor who passed away in October 2010.
Honored for their work in raising over $300,000 for Buckhorn Children’s Center with annual concerts and trail rides were Chad Warrix and David Tolliver, formerly of the country music duo Halfway to Hazard. Warrix was on hand to accept the award, and also played the former duo’s single “Heaven” before the crowd.
Other honors were presented as well, including the two youth awards presented to Perry Central senior Christopher Cory and Willard Elementary Student James Lewis.
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