Quick, who is your favorite Miss-Lou superhero?

What? You didn’t know our community was home to people with amazing talents and terrific gifts?

Well, I have news for you. Thanks to great readers like you, The Democrat has located nearly 300 of them in the past 27 years.

That’s how long the newspaper has been soliciting nominations for the annual Unsung Heroes awards.

Each year we accept nominations from members of the community who know someone who volunteers their time, or energy or talents for the welfare of others.

I have no doubt, with your help, we’ll have another amazingly talented crop of Unsung Heroes this year.

We take nominations from December through early February and recognize this year’s Unsung Heroes on the last Sunday in February.

We’ve already received several nominations. Thank you to those who have already reached out to me with the name of a potential Unsung Hero.

This year, Unsung Heroes — along with the Citizen of the Year award — will be announced on Feb. 23.

An Unsung Hero is someone who makes a huge difference for the community by their works, but isn’t compensated for doing so.

Often Unsung Heroes seek to stay out of the limelight, choosing to do their good deeds just because they see a need.

Unsung Heroes are all around us, but because they often shy away from publicity, they can be easily overlooked.

Past Unsung Heroes have been friends who pick up trash along roadsides or a relative who visits with the sick or infirm.

Perhaps you know someone like this who hasn’t been recognized for his or her great community works but who deserves some recognition?

Anyone can nominate an Unsung Hero and any resident is eligible to be nominated.

To nominate someone, simply send me a note by email, mail or drop it by the newspaper office or call me.

Include in your note or phone message (if I’m not at the office when you call) a brief description of why you feel the person would be a great Unsung Hero along with any groups or causes in which the person volunteers.

If you have contact information for the nominee, please include that as well.

If you’d like for your identity to remain unknown to the person you nominate, just let me know, and we’ll keep the secret for you. Please include your name and phone number on the nomination, however, in case we need to contact you about your nomination.

The deadline for nominating someone this year is Friday, Feb. 7. After that date all nominations will be reviewed by our staff and narrowed to approximately eight heroes.

For our staff, that’s when part of great fun begins. As we contact the winners, invariably they go through stages of denial. That’s when we know we truly have picked some great people who genuinely do good deeds without any expectations of reward.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting dozens of the most recent Unsung Heroes through the years, and it’s one of my favorite, most inspiring parts of the year.

It’s when we can see the real fabric of our community in full display.

 

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.