PLATTSBURGH — Donning a kilt, green suspenders, long socks and a hat covered in shamrocks, Betsy Vicencio couldn’t help but laugh when she was announced as the North Country Chamber of Commerce’s Irish Person of the Year on Tuesday morning.
“I’m shocked,” Vicencio said with a big smile on her face. “And I’m dressed in a ridiculous St. Patrick’s Day outfit.”
She said she woke up that morning wanting to have fun with the outfit but never expected to be on stage in front of hundreds of people.
Instead, she wore the ensemble in support of her good friend and business partner Mike Carpenter, who starred in one of the videos played for the audience at the chamber’s annual St. Patrick Day’s Breakfast in the West Side Ballroom.
“I had no idea,” Vicencio said, adding she was at a loss for words as she accepted the award.
“Thank you so much. What an honor to be with such an esteemed group of Irish Persons of the Year. I’m inspired by all of you, and I’m inspired by our community … I’m never going to live this one down.”
Vicencio was likely an obvious choice to win the chamber’s esteemed award as she wears many hats in the local community beyond the literal shamrock one she wore Tuesday.
She is chair of The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital board; vice chair of the UVM Health Network board; director at Champlain National Bank; Plattsburgh Noon Rotary Club member; vice-president and CFO of the Northeast Group; and is most known as vice president and co-founder of the MHAB Life Skills Campus in Plattsburgh.
Now, she can add Irish Person of the Year to her resume.
“It’s an esteemed group of people that have been brought to the stage for the Irishman of the Year. It’s just not anything that I would have ever imagined that would have happened to me, but here we are,” Vicencio said.
“I think ‘surprised’ is definitely one of the exclamation points of the day.”
Master of Ceremonies Matt Boire introduced Vicencio as a “community-driven and devoted Rotarian, with a heart as steady as the northern hills and a spirit rooted deep in service to the people,” someone who has “long been about the good work, strengthening health care and lifting the quality of life across our communities” and “never turning away when there’s need to be met.”
“A true advocate for women’s health, she stands firm and fearless and carries a vision for sustainable care that will serve generations to come. Sure, she’s one who’s kept both the dollars and cents in good order each day, finding resources wisely so the printers may carry on strong and true,” Boire said.
“With a kindness that runs deep and a will does not waiver, she meets folks where they are, offering comfort, strength and guidance through every stage of recovery. Whether in quiet moments or great efforts, she brings light where it is needed most. A steady hand; a generous soul; a champion for her people, whose work echoes far beyond the present day; a compassionate community leader; mother and fierce friend.”
Vicencio said she didn’t expect to be awarded for the work she does.
“When you become part of a community like our community, which is small, and the amount of fun and good that we do, you look at the people who have been honored, and you realize the huge contributions that they’ve made. I don’t think about any of the things that I do in that light,” she said. “I think about it as just showing up to support my friends and my family and the people in our community. I think about (how) we all have to just do just a little bit more.”
Vicencio said the first thing she was going to do after winning the award is go back to work.
“The award is a wonderful, wonderful surprise, but the work in the community and the people are the reasons I do what I do, just to try to make things a little bit better,” she said. “So I’m honored and humbled and really grateful for the recognition, which I completely was not prepared for.”