Marco Association of Realtors Holds Annual Banquet

The past, present, and future were celebrated at the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors’ annual installation banquet. 

Held recently at the Island Country Club, the event formalized the selection of MIAAOR’s leadership team of officers and directors for 2025. The banquet also included the presentation of individual awards for 2024, as well as a special, unexpected award for one realtor’s longtime public service. 

The officers for 2025 are:

Helen Donaghy, President.

Jacki Strategos, President-elect.

Stacy Witthoff, Secretary-Treasurer. 

Donaghy, of Engel & Völkers Marco Island, succeeds soon-to-be past-president Geoff Fahringer of Downing-Frye Realty. 

Serving as directors for 2025 are: 

One-year terms - Elizabeth Heuermann, Stan Niemczyk, Mary Jo O’Regan and Marc Creach.

Two-year terms: Laura Burns Kocak, Catherine Clausen, and Nick Mastrangelo.

Three-year terms: Kyle Grucci, Marv Needles, and Jack Winnik.

In her remarks, Donaghy said her theme for 2025 will be “Marco Island Area Association of Realtors: forward focused, embracing change with positivity and creating new opportunities. I'm honored and privileged to be the president for 2025,” she added, “and I'm so looking forward to a great year.”

Fahringer honored Craig Biddick and Stacy Witthoff with President Awards for their efforts in 2024. The president’s Unsung Hero Award went to Mark Huffor, a realtor and a detective sergeant with the Marco Island Police Department. 

“This person has been a great asset to both our situational awareness presentations and also to presentations on fraud at our Association for Real Estate,” said Fahringer. “He also is part of the Major Fraud Task Force. Not only has this individual been there for members of the Realtors Association, he is also an outstanding public servant to the Marco Island community.”

After saying he was humbled by the award, Huffor pointed to his fellow realtors and the MIAAOR staff as the real unsung heroes. 

“You've worked with me in the last year, really listening and finding a lot of the fraud that's being attempted and providing that information to the police department and the chief,” he added. “We want to always know that we're here for you, to help you out with any of your situations.”

The Realtor Support Network award went to Marc Creach of CrossCountry Mortgage. Farrah Waldren of Re/Max Affinity Plus received the Robert Clark Award, which recognizes realtors with no more than three years in the profession. And Jack Winnik received the Richard Shanahan Service Award.

Stan Niemczyk of Premier Sotheby's International Realty was named Realtor of the Year for 2024. The award was announced by the 2023 recipient, Doreen Herriman of Platinum Real Estate. She said the award recognizes “those members who have gone above and beyond in service to our realtor community.” 

The awards presentations closed with one not included in the event program: Humanitarian of the Year. The award was created to acknowledge the dedicated charitable work of its recipient, Bill Filbin, who had no idea he would be an honoree. 

A Marco realtor for more than four decades, he has been the driving force behind MIAAOR’s annual donation of side dishes to the St. Matthew’s House Thanksgiving dinner for the less fortunate. 

The Naples-based nonprofit is a homeless shelter, food bank, and substance abuse recovery program provider. Each year, it prepares and serves at least 1,000 of the free holiday meals. 

Filbin started the MIAAOR’s participation 27 years ago, always serving as the organizer and even delivering the donations on Thanksgiving morning to St. Matthew’s House’s Airport-Pulling Road main campus. However, starting this year, he’s now curtailed his involvement due to health issues, with MIAAOR CEO Kandy Sweeney stepping in to ensure the effort continues. 

In his pre-presentation remarks, Jack Winnik of Keller Williams Realty credited Filbin with having made an “exceptional, lasting impact on humanity” through his “compassion, leadership, and dedication to serving others….This person has made a profound impact, exemplifying the true spirit of volunteerism, compassion, and giving back. His unwavering support has uplifted countless lives, strengthened communities and community bonds, and inspired others to follow in his footsteps.”

In a later interview, Filbin, 77, said he was “shocked and humbled” by the award, adding that he doesn’t “plan on stopping helping people as long as I can be of assistance.”