Oneonta, NY Celebrates Four Women Receiving Coveted Trailblazer Awards

Because the month of March is "Women's History Month", every year, the City of Oneonta’s Commission on Community Relations and Human Rights recognizes nominated, women trailblazers in our Oneonta community with the annual Woman Trailblazer Award which began back in 2007. What qualifies a woman to be nominated for this honor is that she must be "one who has opened the pathways for others to follow; a pioneer, a forerunner, a trail breaker, a mover and shaker" as defined by the commission. There are two categories for the award that gets handed out: a woman leader under 25 and then over 25. This year, there were no nominees under 25.

Last night at Foothills Performing Arts Center, the city held an awards ceremony for the public to attend with the winners revealed with Oneonta mayor Mark Drnek handing out the awards to the winners. Four deserving women walked away with trailblazer awards:

- Noel Clinton-Feik: Noel, along with her husband Brad founded The Crossroads Inn, a place where people coming out of drug rehab, jail, or are experiencing homelessness and have no place to go. Those individuals can find safe, temporary housing as they receive help transitioning to a permanent situation. I can easily say that Noel Clinton-Feik is very passionate about her mission to help others and she and her husband do a great job at the Crossroads Inn.
- Dr. Marcela Micucci: Micucci is the Executive Director of the Greater Oneonta Historical Society and has made great strides in acquiring funding for the organization through grants that are being used currently to remodel and enhance the Oneonta History Center. As an Oneonta native, Micucci has tremendous energy and desire to preserve Oneonta's history and has already made her positive mark on GOHS in a short time since becoming the E.D. She's definitely a mover and shaker in our community.
- Joyce Miller: Chances are good that if you live in Oneonta, you have probably at least heard of Joyce Miller. Miller is no stranger to giving back to her community and her focus has always been, to use her skills and energy to make Oneonta a better place to live and assist those in need through volunteer work, through her tireless work with the Family Service Association, as a board member and supervisor for Saturday’s Bread, along with volunteering with the League of Women Voters and United Methodist Women. Let's just say that an incredible amount of lives have been touched positively by Joyce Miller.
- Kate Simeon: Simeon is an Academic Advisor at SUNY Oneonta but has a real passion for theater in her work as stage manager for Orpheus Theatre. Simeon has a real gift for working with children and young adults and it shows through her work for Orpheus and SUNY Oneonta.

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The winners' names will end up being engraved on a plaque to be displayed in Oneonta's city hall for all to see. Congratulations to these deserving women serving as great role models in our community!