February 2012
The Trenton Trib
Page 9
Awards programs are always looking for more nominees And the winner is…. As usual, this is the big season for awards. Last month’s major highlights included the handing out of the 2012 Golden Globes and the announcement of this year’s nominees for the Academy Awards, which will be awarded next month. Locally it’s award season also, with several honors being announced at the 42nd annual City Awards Banquet on Jan. 21. A few other major hometown awards will be announced early this month at the Mayor’s State of the City program (Feb. 6 at Westfield), including the Rotary Club’s Service Above Self Award and the Business of the Year Award, which is sponsored by the Trenton Business Association. While the hype about the big awards such as the Golden Globes and the Oscars — fueled in large part by the publicity efforts of the TV networks and even the nominees themselves — may seem relentless and excessive at times, the local awards never seem to get all the attention they deserve. The hometown awards programs always unearth great stories …. Neighbors, business people and public servants all going above and beyond the call of duty — not in search of attention, but just because they think it’s the right thing to do. We’re fortunate that our community has a lot of people who fit that description, and it’s great to see some of them get a little recognition for it. One thing that might surprise a lot of people though, is that awards programs such as the City Awards Banquet often struggle when it comes to gathering nominees. It’s not because there is any shortage of potential candidates. It’s mostly because very few people take the time to submit nominations. I’m sure it’s at least partially because we are usually busy with things that seem more important, and to some extent we probably assume that “someone else will do it.”
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Joe Hoshaw Jr. Trib Notes
But the reality is that most awards programs of this nature really do depend on nominations from residents in order to be successful. I would bet most of us know someone who would be a great candidate for one of the city awards. But they can’t win it if someone doesn’t nominate them. So, please consider nominating someone this coming fall when the Civic Commission begins soliciting nominations for next year’s event. Speaking of the Civic Commission, congratulations to Joe Oaks and the rest of the members for another great job. There’s little doubt that the commission, which also produces the city parades and the citywide garage sales, is one of the hardest working and most dedicated groups in town. Maybe there should be an award for that. Primary concerns…. OK, I have just one question about the presidential primary. Isn’t there a better way to do this? It’s kind of ridiculous to think, in this day in age, that voters will have to choose their candidate from a ballot littered with the names of candidates who aren’t even in the race anymore – or, worse yet, have flipped to a differ-
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ent party in order to stay in the race. Seriously? It’s just one of many glaring examples of how archaic and outdated our country’s presidential primary system is. At a time when the misuse and abuse of public funds seems to be such a hot topic everywhere, why do we tolerate such a blatant waste of time, energy and money on a two-year-long presidential campaign that seems to drag on about 23 months too long? I’m having a hard time coming up with evidence that the current system truly benefits anyone – except those who profit from the revenue generated by the campaigns, which has become kind of an industry unto itself. The rest of us are left to shake our heads and wonder what the point is. I’m sure there are some who enjoy the entertainment value of it all, which is fine – mostly for comic relief, I would presume. To me, though, it seems like just another bad reality show. And it’s coming to a TV newsroom near you this month. Yippee! Joe Hoshaw Jr. is editor and co-publisher of the Trenton Trib. Contact him by email at info@trentontrib.com or by phone at 676-0850.