Vernon Assistant Rec Director Gets Statewide Hidden Hero Award

VERNON, CT — Vernon Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Amy Watt was honored Tuesday by the Connecticut Recreation & Parks Association with its 2021 Hidden Hero Award.

Watt was recognized for her work overseeing a variety of wildly successful and popular recreation programs during the pandemic, including last year’s "reimagined" Winterfest and a drive-up Trunk-or-Treat program amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

She was also recognized for the critical role she played managing Vernon's nationally recognized vaccination program. Watt and Parks and Recreation Director Marty Sitler oversaw non-medical operations of the program.
When the vaccination program transitioned from mega-clinics at the Vernon Senior Center to smaller clinics focused on serving hard-to-reach communities, including people experiencing homelessness, food insecurity and other challenges, Watt took a leadership role. In partnership with the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, she also led a series of highly-specialized clinics custom tailored to people living with disabilities.

"Amy is highly deserving of this award, which recognizes the incredible work she has done on behalf of the residents of Vernon and beyond," Mayor Daniel Champagne said. "Amy is a great example of how our staff came together, outside of their regular roles, and did a phenomenal job meeting the needs of our community."

Last year's Winterfest was a huge success because it provided a "much-needed diversion for a community that had been dealing with the pandemic and the isolation it caused," Town Administrator Michael Purcaro said.

He added, "Under Amy’s leadership, our Parks and Recreation Department created a program that delighted thousands of pandemic-fatigued families and quite literally backed up traffic to I-84. That was an important
event for our community and the feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive. As important as Amy’s
work on Winterfest was, her role in leading our vaccination program was even more consequential. Amy and
her team literally saved lives."

Sitler said, "This was a big job and it was going to take both of us to do it well. Amy knows her job and is good
at adapting when there are challenges. She brought that to the vaccination program. She quickly figured out
what needed to be done, and then adjusted and improved as we moved forward. It was always about doing our
best to serve residents."

Watt said she was honored to be recognized by her colleagues, but stressed that she could not have achieved
anything without the hard work of her colleagues in Vernon.

"Without the leadership of the mayor and town administrator, the commitment of the people with whom I work, and the loving support of my family, this could not have happened," Watt said. "I was fortunate to have the opportunity to lead this tremendous team."

And while the pandemic has been difficult for everyone, Watt said she has come to appreciate the opportunities
it presented to serve.

"It was especially rewarding to help people with disabilities receive vaccine," she said. "Some were not able to
speak, but the expression on their faces and the gratitude and relief expressed by their loved ones and caregivers
really drove home how important our work was to so many people. It was a gift to be able to help so many people."