Editorial: Who's your Person of the Year?

Craig McDougall was last years Person Of The Year.

As the famous Highlander tagline quite rightly laid down: "There can be only one."

The same applies for Hawke's Bay Today's Person of the Year, 2014.

Today marks one month until Christmas - and the time to start thinking about sending us your nominations for the region's cream of the crop.

Needless to say, we're blessed with scores of folk who fit the criteria and could quite easily lay claim to the title. We're talking toilers, artisans, tireless volunteers, heroes, business and community champions of all walks.

Let's not forget, the bar has already been raised to a lofty height.

Last year's winner, Craig McDougall, a mentor to more than 100 young men and head coach at the Flaxmere Boxing Academy, was voted in unanimously by the judging panel. "We're coaches but not in boxing, we're coaches in life," he told us last year.

Mr McDougall's inspirational story is the first of many told, in what we hope will become an annual end of year fixture for this newspaper.

Hawke's Bay Today is always honoured to engage with these people and their achievements throughout the year, but we need your help to cast the net as wide as possible.

Once the judging panel has made its decision, we will announce the 2014 winner in late December.

As we wrote in stories leading up to last year's announcement, the actions of these selfless individuals provide a dividend not only to those whose lives they mould directly but the collective community.

So, go on, take a stab and tell us who you think deserves the gong for deeds done in 2014. Email us at editor@hbtoday.co.nz.