2015 Leader Appreciation Awards Non-Runners-Up/Winners
1) Most Enthusiastic Coleader - KJ Reich (Anne)
2) Summit Treats - Sarah Waterbury (Anne)
3) Golden Boot - Elizabeth Ryan (Mark)
4) Golden Crampon - Bob Asch (Mark)
5) Trip of the Year - Barbara Amoroso and Joe Comuzzi for their
Monroe/Washington trip (Anne)
6) Most Appreciated - Chris McCarron (Mark)
7) Distinguished Service Award - Stephen Conlin (Anne)
8) Most Frequent Events - (Mark)
Paul Terenzi
Joe Comuzzi
Keith Watling
Elizabeth Ryan
Alex Nedzel
Carl Gustenhoven
Michael Swartz
Philip Werner
Julie LePage
Pam Wilmot
Sarah Waterbury
Bryan Jones
Introduction (Mark)
 Welcome back to our annual team meeting, Each year we gather to honor those who
achieved greatness as trip leaders in the past year and to plan some trips for the coming
year.
 Coach Alex may have some words and may want to recognize the committee members:
Stephen Conlin
Carl Gustenhoven
Faith Pulis
Keith Watling
Yorghos Tripodis
Robert Freed
Lenka
Stephanie St. Laurence
Anne Jarek
Mark




As Stephen Conlin often points out, what the awards committee does is more art than
science.
There are many well qualified candidates for each award category.
The survey we ask people to complete only gives us some mild guidance.
One thing we really like to see in survey responses is specific comments as to why
someone or a trip is the best, but the responses really just serve as nominations.

Names, without comments, do not carry much weight.
Presenting the Award for Most Enthusiastic Coleader of 2014 is the winner of the same award
for 2013, Anne Jarek
Coleader of the Year – KJ Reich (Anne)
Best Summit Treats – Sarah Waterbury (Anne)
Golden Boot – Elizabeth Ryan (Mark)
Paul Terenzi to pass on Golden Boot
 Elizabeth has helping our team in many ways. This year she is coordinating the SHP, a
role she stepped into when Philip Jones went overseas to join ISIS. Unlike Mr. Jones,
she is not doing this for personal gain or selfish reasons. As Mr. Jones' protégé last year,
it was easy to assume that Elizabeth was evil, but we have come to see that she has
another side.
 She is a kind of anti-Phil
 Elizabeth does a formidable job of combining both the hard skills, of a hiker with good
technical ability and the capacity to hike long distances at a rapid clip, with the soft,
people skills that will help beginning hikers and newcomers to our team develop their
own hard skills.
 She excels at caring for the participants. Last year we recognized Elizabeth for her
summit treats. Making good summit treats is only one way of showing the participants
that you care about them. Spending many hours coordinating one of our training
programs is another.
 Very recently, she went to a lot of trouble to find accommodations for her group that was
going to Mt. Cabot after the group was told they could not use Subsig.
 A couple of years ago she was a coleader for Paul Terenzi, along with my son Chris.
They were leading a group on my backpacking trip. It was comforting to know that one
of the three of them had the good sense was not to try to burn down the swamp we were
camping in. She has since displayed good judgment by becoming a leader and avoiding
trips with Paul.
Golden Crampon – Bob Asch (Mark)
Alex Nedzel to pass on Golden Crampon
 Our team is nothing new. Leaders have been taking AMC members on hikes and
camping since the club began.
 These awards only recognize the superlatives among current leaders.







Sometimes we recognize someone who is really hot, leading lots of trips, doing
innovative things and helping lots of participants with different programs.
We hope that those people will not be flashes in the pan, but only time will tell.
Other times, we take a longer view - who has been helping the largest
numbers of people for the longest period of time. These are people like
Judy Dillman, Jim Shelhamer, Mohammed Elozy, Bob Vogel and a slew of other leaders
who were here before my memory begins.
This year, we are recognizing someone who was here before me. I first
met Bob Asch at the LaMoine campground outside of Acadia National Park on
Memorial Day weekend in 2000 or 2001. I was not struck by his booming voice or full
head of hair.
I have since crossed paths with him innumerable times, at various winter and spring
hiking programs, at Monadnock, during leadership training, in first aid classes, most
recently in an AWFA class in December.
For the past few years I have been helping out with the leadership training.
A couple of years ago, we were doing that videotaped plane crash scenario that tested
group decision making and Bob was acting as the observer of a group. By that time on a
Sunday morning, most people, both leaders and soon-to-be coleaders are just mailing it
in. I recognized that most of us were just using the exercise for entertainment purposes,
but not Bob. He was not just observing. He was very closely analyzing how the
participants were interacting. He was trying to maximize the educational benefits of the
exercise for the participants. Made me sick, but that was typical Bob.
One of our committee members commented that Bob tries to help out as many people as
possible and is always striving to make them comfortable in his own awkward way. I
think he succeeds.
Trip of the Year – Joe Commuzi and Barbara Amaroso for 12/27 Washington/Monroe (Anne)
Most Appreciated – Chris McCarron (Mark)
 Every year we have voters choice awards. Those include the Most Embarrassing Blunder
award, which we have renamed the Most Memorable Moment award.
 Since most of the people doing the nominations for the awards are in this room, the
awards will sometimes go to people who are doing things that are not seen by a
participant taking a single trip or two.
 Last year, we recognized Julie LePage as the Most Respected Leader of 2013.
 This year, the award is for Most Appreciated and it goes to Chris McCarron.
 She and all the work she does is deeply appreciated by us, her teammates and fellow
leaders.
 The difference in the awards is that one is for gaining our respect for consistently doing
something that both participants and leaders see.






The other award is for gaining our appreciation for quietly toiling outside of the spotlight,
doing the little tasks that, too often, we take for granted.
The cashier at a supermarket would get an award for respect, but the person out in the
parking lot collecting carts would be most appreciated.
Participants do not see how the registration process for a hiking program is run or know
how a trip leader knows that they have signed up for a trip on REGI.
Chris McCarron makes sure that the wheels on the team bus roll smoothly without the
participants ever seeing the work that goes into doing that.
Chris not only does the thankless tasks for us, she does them almost eagerly.
As Gary Schwartz has done for years, she makes what we do not only easier, but simply
possible.
2014 Distinguished Service Award – Stephen Conlin (Anne)
 The next voters choice award was a late addition. Anne will tell you about the next
winner:
Most Frequent Events
Paul Terenzi – Winner of Golden Boot last year, FC
Joe Comuzzi – Winner of Trip of the Year
Keith Watling – On the Committee for this dinner and declining any awards
Elizabeth Ryan – Winner of the Golden Boot this year, FC BBPack
Alex Nedzel – Winner of the Golden Crampon last year, FC
Carl Gustenhoven – Winner of the Most Memorable Moment last year, FC
Michael Swartz – former winner of the Most Embarrassing Blunder, FC
Philip Werner – FC, too busy hiking to win any awards
Julie LePage – Winner of the Most Respected last year, FC
Pam Wilmot – Future winner of some award or another
Sarah Waterbury – Winner of the Summit Treat award, FC BBPack
Bryan Jones – quietly leading a lot of really good trips.
New Coleaders
Plugs
Trip planning