The Dirk Award

The "Dirk Award" now has its own web page!  There is a history of the award, past recipients, and how it all got started:

The Dirk Award dates back to the RoundUp meeting in Kansas City, USA in 2000. There, a small group of U.S. circuit riders decided, during a drunken night of debauchery, that it was time for the rider community to celebrate its accomplishments. The next day, a diligent staff person from Tech Rocks (the organizers of the RoundUp then) took it upon herself to scour the thrift stores of Kansas City to emerge with the strutting, beautifully golden Dirk who has been making rider history ever since.

However, there is a  little piece of history missing, forgotten, or maybe ignored.  The diligent staff person also found another trophy, a trout fishing trophy, and it was dubbed "The Swimming Upstream Award."  It was awarded in Kansas City to the staff person or volunteer who worked the hardest on making the conference a success.  I know about the fish because I schlepped the darn thing through airport security in Orlando and it sat on my desk for almost a year, from April 2002 until March 2003.   A proud reminder of my 15 minutes of shared fame with Cheryl and Joel.   

The first recipient was Cheryl Hanback in Kansas City.  The second recipient, in Denver, was Holly Ross.  The third year, it was given to me, Cheryl, and Joel Remigio for managing the Day of Service.  In Oakland, it was awarded to Tom Battin from Compasspoint and Fresh White from Compumentor.   Tom or Fresh would have brought it to Philadelphia if they were attending the NTC in 2004.   They didn't give the awards that year anyway and who knows where the trout trophy is swimming these days .. maybe still swimming with the fishies....    But, if it had appeared in Chicago it would have gone to N-TEN staffers Holly Ross, Liz Wakefield, and Kirsten Wallenstedt for working so hard to make the conference run so smoothly this year!  On the other hand, a bouquet of flowers is much easier to get through airport security.