Top 10 Feel-Good Stories of the Year

Getting ready to ring in the New Year? Before you break out the streamers and noise-makers to celebrate 2012, join Riverhead Patch as we look back on the biggest news stories of the past year. Today, Patch counts down the top 10 feel-good stories of 2011.

We've included a snippet from each one of the heart-warming stories. Click on a headline to read the full story.

Helene Korbin, owner of downtown boutique OMG! How Cute, knew exactly what to do once she . Korbin began preparing boxes to fill with toys and merchandise from her store.

But Korbin will not take these items home, put them in storage or transfer them to her other store in Greenport: she plans to donate most of her leftover toys and gifts to local homeless shelters and not-for-profit groups once the shop closes its doors on Sunday...

Just before the start of her race, Amber Galiano sat in the bleachers at the Riverhead Raceway. She was about to enter a grueling battle to the death: her first demolition derby.

"I'm very nervous," she said with a laugh.

Three hours later, Galiano stood in victory lane as the Judge's Choice winner after nearly making history as the first female to ever win a demolition derby at the Riverhead Raceway and drawing cheers from the crowd of thousands who stayed after sunset to watch...

Inside the Grind Café, a corner bench with cozy purple and black cushions is at times empty. Owner and bakery chef Maryann Iacono believes it is the very spot where her late husband would have sat, had he survived his cancer last July.

“That would have been Michael’s spot, no doubt about it,” she said...

It didn't take long for Town Supervisor 9-year-old Kathryn Motlenski to follow through on one of her campaign promises.

A fifth grader at Our Lady of Mercy in Cutchogue and the winner of this year's "Supervisor for a Day" contest as part of a , Kathryn renamed her street "Dumbledore's Army Way" after a character in the popular Harry Potterbook series at Tuesday's Town Board meeting, just as she promised on the day she won...

The 'layaway angels' have come to Riverhead.

The nationwide phenomenon of anonymous donors paying off strangers’ layaway balances has affected to Riverhead's Kmart store, according to store managers...

To Polish Town Festival Director Darlene Folkes, the annual celebration is much more than a show of patriotism and heritage: it's a family tradition. 

Folkes and her family, from her mother to cousins and children, have been volunteering at the Polish Town Fair for decades. And while they've seen the festival expand, the most important thing is to bring the family together...

 Denise Lucas repeated her mantra over and over at Monday afternoon's Town Hall press conference.

"One woman, one dream, help is on the way," she said.

For Lucas, a 20-year Riverhead resident, that dream is simple: build a new animal shelter for the Town of Riverhead...

Miguel Maysonet, a former Blue Wave running back who  in the Big South Conference, set the conference record on Saturday for rushing yards in a single season during a Stony Brook University playoff victory, upping his season total to 1,560 yards...

About 1,000 items of food, supplies and bedding were donated to the Suffolk County United Veterans by the Riverhead Free Library on Wednesday afternoon as part of their "Food for Fines" program.

Nearly a dozen veterans and U.S. Army recruits packed the boxes of donations into their vans to be taken to homeless veterans in need...

Six days after Riverhead High School NJROTC Cadet Lieutenant Amanda Gallo was one of six cadets to be awarded a $180,000 Navy scholarship to the college of her choice, a second high school senior cadet has been announced as a winner of the award.

Cadet Lieutenant Jr. Grade Brian Weinhardt, the Operations Officer for the RHS unit, will receive a $180,000 scholarship to the college of his choice, according to a statement from the Riverhead school district on Tuesday...