Fiore named Nahant’s Citizen of the Year

NAHANT-Jeanne Fiore hid her shock at being named Citizen of the Year well until tears of surprise began to slip down her cheek.It is customary that Town Meeting begins with the Citizen of the Year award. Moderator David Conlin said called this year’s choice “not only brilliant and hard working but as nice a person as you’ll ever meet in your whole life.”Fiore has served six years on the Advisory and Finance Committee and had helped guide the town through some tricky endeavors such as the purchase and subsequent sale of the military housing, and the leasing of the Life Saving Station. Conlin said it was nice to see the board and other town officials getting along during those trying times because that hadn’t always been the case in the past.”And I think Jeannie was a big part of that,” he added.Conlin said he was only sorry that this would be Fiore’s last year on the committee because she had decided to step down.Fiore said, following the meeting, that she was quite taken aback by the award.”I had no idea that was coming,” she said.Library Director Daniel deStefano stopped by to congratulate Fiore and to thank her for being so easy to work with. Fiore attributed that to a low key approach.She joked that there always seemed to be a point each year when she would think that next year would be her last.”But then to you get to Town Meeting and you see the good parts,” Fiore said adding that really, her time on the committee, “went fast.”Fiore said it would be the people she’s worked with that she will miss most of all, but she explained that her day job has grown making it difficult to balance both positions.She said she also appreciated how much she learned while serving on the committee.”It’s very interesting to see how the town works, how it’s run,” she said. “It really makes you feel more in touch with the community.”