• Legionnaire of the Year Ed Jackson, Utica Post 229.

• Oldest Legionnaire of the Year: Stanley J. Potrzeba, a 100-year-old member of New Hartford Post 1376.

• 100-per-cent membership recruitment certificates to four posts: Sherrill Post 230, Fort Schuyler Post 1290, Meeker-O’Rourke Post 1309, and Charles H. Andrean DSC Post 625.

• Newsletter of the Year to Utica Post 229, 2nd Place Newsletter to New Hartford Post 1376 and 3rd Place Newsletter to Lee Legion Post 1794.

• $500 scholarship awards to graduating high school seniors Morgan Zike and Alina Gubbins.

The Law-and-Order Awards were a highlight of the convention. Paul Wojcik, chairman for both the county and 5th District, announced that the two recipients were receiving both county and district honors as 911 Dispatcher of the Year and Firefighter of the Year. (They both were later named Department of New York honorees.)

911 Dispatcher Susie Barnaby (photo above) has been working with the Oneida County 911 system for 22 years and is certified in CPR, Emergency Medical Dispatch and Emergency Police Dispatch. She has worked just about every shift the 911 center has to offer. She was honored as Humanitarian of the Year in 2011 and again in 2021. Susie has been a member of Lee American Legion Auxiliary Unit 1794 for 30 years, most recently serving as president.

Firefighter Norris Whitman (photo above), a lieutenant with Lee Center Fire Department, has been with the volunteer fire department for 32 years. He has completed training in a number of areas, from firefighter survival to accident victim extrication.

The award cited his continuous work and dedication as well for his other community involvement and volunteering – all while working for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for some 34 years, retiring only last year (2021). A former Marine who served in the Middle East during Desert Storm, he is a dual member of the Lee Legion and its Sons of the American Legion Squadron.