Massillon Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry spends the majority of her time running a city with more than 32,000 people. With such a busy profession, the mayor has become a maestro for the tasks of planning and prioritizing. She balances work and an active life at home that includes young children and is also a participant in multiple civic organizations throughout Stark County.
My personal Person of the Year is my boyfriend, Joel! He was my biggest surprise of 2018 and a reminder that even the hardest things that happen can lead to wonderful things.
Last school year was among the most heartbreaking and frightening nine months in Stark County school history. School leaders buried 25 students or recent graduates, including roughly a dozen of them who died by suicide. One student plotted to kill his fellow classmates before deciding to turn the gun on himself. Threats of violence bombarded nearly every local school district, and more than 1,500 Stark County children were taken to nearby hospitals for mental health concerns. School leaders and staff didn’t know what to do.
Every year, the holidays come and go so quickly. The turkey dinner, the shopping, the presents, the tree, the ball dropping, the time spent with family—it all happens so fast. And just like that, it’s over and you’re left wondering what to do.
Back in the 2000s, I was in a smoky bar on New Year’s Eve. A new law had been passed, and at the stroke of midnight, smoking no longer would be allowed indoors.
It’s inscrutable, a mix of do-gooder charisma and an easy, honest charm for every single person he meets. No motive. No ego. The type of person who simply rolls up his sleeves and does what needs doing. Canton Chief of Police Bruce Lawver calls it “the real thing.” And that’s probably the best description of our 2018 Person of the Year, Officer LaMar Sharpe. The real thing.
Ten years ago, Robb Hankins stepped foot in Stark County for the first time. Surveying downtown Canton, he saw the Palace Theatre, a lone art gallery (Second April Galerie & Studios, then on 6th Street) and five pieces of public art.
Sharon Budd beat breast cancer more than 10 years ago, but since July 10, she has been fighting for her life after six brain surgeries and proving to be, what her husband believes, is a living miracle. She is About Magazine’s Person of the Year.
electing About magazine’s Person of the Year usually is no easy task. Except this year.
Call the Malone University cross-country office and grad assistant coach James Zeuch tells you that Jack Hazen is “out running errands, but he’ll be back shortly.”
