Welcome to the second edition of "Palm Beach Elite: 100 People Who Make Things Happen." The first one was published in December 2006, so it's time to update and refresh our list of 100 people who make a difference in our community.

This section is an attempt to acknowledge that their energy, imagination, innovation, generosity and just plain hard work are part of what makes Palm Beach such a special community.

Many of the names will be familiar; well over 80 percent of those on the first list are still there this time around. Some new faces have been added and recent accomplishments are noted. Some who were included in 2006 have changed jobs, moved or lowered their profiles. Two of the original list, sadly, have died.

Without a doubt, there are many more than 100 people who have influence on various causes and endeavors and who could join this list. This special section is not meant to rank people, their contributions or their causes, just to highlight 100 standouts of the past year, listed alphabetically by category.

For the past couple of months, nominations have been solicited from the public and the readers of the Palm Beach Daily News in print and online. We received dozens of suggestions and considered each one. The newsroom staff also contributed nominations.

Palm Beach is noted for its generosity and is blessed with many residents who contribute significant amounts of money to all manner of worthy causes. But, while the "Philanthropy" category is the largest one, we also researched public record, the newspaper's story archives and the collective experience of our staff to single out those whose influence is felt in arenas that range from public service to personal faith.

In other words, you don't have to be rich and/or famous to make the list. The main criterion was that our listees "make a difference" and have some direct tie to Palm Beach (but residence on the island was not a requirement).

We started with a preliminary list that far exceeded 100 (and if you count a few couples we included as one listing), we ended up with slightly more than 100.

The list is divided into categories and many of the people on our list could easily fit into two or more categories. We included them under the category heading with which they are most often associated.

No one listed here receives anything other than whatever recognition this list may bring.

Employees and contract workers for the Palm Beach Daily News and their immediate families were not eligible, nor were the employees of any other Palm Beach Newspapers Inc. publication (The Palm Beach Post, Pennysaver and La Palma.)

The nature of lists being what they are, this year's edition of "Palm Beach Elite" is certainly open to debate and discussion. Have fun, make your own lists and let us know what you think. We welcome feedback.

E-mail your comments to pthomas@pbdailynews.com; fax 655-4594 or mail to PB Elite, 265 Royal Poinciana Way, Palm Beach, FL 33480.