Winners of the 2016 Achievement Awards were announced at the Christmas Party on December 4. Thirtysix members earned 48 awards; obviously some members won more than one. Here is a photo of the award winners at the Christmas party. This year's winners received high quality gray mock turtleneck shirts with orange trim and the bicentennial logo with "2016 Achievement Awards" on the front. Click here to see a photo of the shirt. For the fourth time Bob Kriz donated the awards, at no small personal expense, as a way to "give something back to the Club".
Following is a list of the awards and who won them.
Millennium Award
Ninteen members hiked more than 1,000 miles in 2016. Once again, Glee Crowder topped the list with 3,042 miles. Here is a list of all the winners:
Tish Brafford Rick Braun Glee Crowder John Gaebler Curtis Hinds Mike Khalil David Kincaid Rick Kinnaman Mary Lang Julie Litten Jill McFall Kae Ramey Allan Roberts Mike Seeman Phil Smith Jo Anne Starzyk Cherie Voege Kathy Whalen Ed Wright
Pathfinder Award
The following 11 members led 50 or more hikes during the past year. Glee Crowder topped the list with an incredible 289 hikes.
Dick Bacon Rick Braun Marti Burton Janet Cohen Glee Crowder Marsha Hutchins David Kincaid Rick Kinnaman Bob Kriz Julie Litten Ed Wright
Marathon Award
Just two members - Rita Bymaster and Theresa McKinney-Ray - completed the longest hike in 2016, matching the Club's long distance record of 62 miles. Incredibly, Rita has completed this distance for the 7th time and in a personal best time averaging better than 4 miles an hour for the entire distance.
Trailblazer Award
The following 7 members led 15 or more different hikes during the Club year. This is one of the more challanging awards to win. Different hikes are always appreciated by our members.
Jean Ballinger Pat Lawler Mary Ann Layman Terry Roesch June Sergi Mary Williams Ed Wright
Milestone Award
This award is presented to members who hike 10,000 miles with the Club. This year we had four people who reached this impressive milestone:
Rita Bymaster Bob Layman Ellen Mutzl Mary Williams
Trail Maintenance Award
David Kincaid was the sole winner of this award in 2016, for completing more than 16 hours of trail maintenance.
Membership Award
Kathy Whalen earned this award for bringing in three new members to the Club during the past year.
Club Service Award
This award is given by the Board of Directors to a member they feel deserves special recognition for their service to the Club. This year the Board choose Karen Zimmerman for the effort she expended throuhout the year to track participation on the Bicentennial hike series. Without Karen's technical skill and effort we would not know who to recognize for the state park hikes.
IndyHike.Org Award
By a wide margin, once again Phil Coons contributed the most photos to the Club website
Bill and Nell Larrison Pinnacle Award
For the sixth time, David Kincaid won this special award by earning the Millennium, Pathfinder, Trailblazer and Trail Maintenance awards in one year. Quite an amazing accomplishment.
Junior Hikers Award
There were no winners of this award in 2016.