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It's that time of the year again to submit your nominations for the NDC's Hernando De Soto Award and the Special Achievement Awards. Do you know a club member, or a group of club members, who have done something special for our club or for De Sotos? Perhaps she, he or they have been extra helpful in finding parts or information about De Sotos for other members. Or maybe they have helped out other members with their cars, or answered lots of questions on our club’s message board, or let non-members know more about De Sotos and our club while at car shows and swap meets. If you do, and would like that person or group to be acknowledged for their efforts, then nominate that person or group for either one of our Special Achievement Awards or for the Hernando De Soto Award.
The Special Achievement Awards are presented to our club members who have gone that extra mile during the previous year to help our club, our members, or our De Sotos. Anyone who is a member of our club may nominate another member, or group of members, for this award. If the member(s) being nominated has already won a Special Achievement Award during a previous convention, then this nomination would have to be for a different reason than that for which they have already won. Last year, five Special Achievement Awards were given to our members. The first one went to Bobbi and Joe Youngblood and the Great Lakes Chapter for being our hosts of the 2015 NDC Convention, which was held in Kalamazoo, MI. The next one went to Tom Kenney for being the Treasurer and Membership Chairman of the De Soto Owners Club of Maryland, Inc. The third award also went to members from Maryland, Kathy and Bob Bair, for their many years of being the editors for the De Soto Owners Club of Maryland’s bimonthly publication, the De Soto Diary. Our fourth award went to Pat Bisson for proofreading the club’s magazine, DeSoto Adventures, prior to it being submitted to the publisher. And our fifth award went to Ron Waters for providing significant help with our club’s web-site. Examples of past winners are: parts reproduction projects, extraordinary membership recruitment, club projects, starting a chapter, chapter newsletter editor, dash plaque artwork, calendar editor, coordinating a gathering of De Sotos during the Carlisle All Chrysler National, driving a De Soto in a Great Race, proofreading our club’s magazine, and buying a 1950 De Soto in Colorado and driving it home to Maine.
The Hernando De Soto Award is presented to our members who have done the most for our club. This annual award is the highest honor our club bestows upon any of our members. The effort that the member has demonstrated and is being nominated for may have occurred at any time during our club’s existence. Last year, the winner was Tim Bowers for the many years that he has been an ambassador for De Soto and the NDC. Tim has served as a trustee for the past several years. In this capacity, he continually looks for ways to improve both the quality of the club and the experiences its members enjoy. During his tenure, the webmaster position for the club required a replacement. This is a critical position as it forward faces the entire membership. With little technical knowledge, he volunteered to take the position. Since then, he has been teaching himself not only the software the website requires but the nuances of the webmaster position. As the webmaster, he also is responsible for maintaining decorum and the pleasant atmosphere that users experience in the forms. Tim has also been successful in fostering assistance to address the more technical aspects of the site. Additionally, he took the club’s social media exposure and more than doubled that by opening and maintaining the National DeSoto Club's presence on Facebook. The NDC Facebook page enjoys over 900 likes from users and contributors, many of which have only been recently exposed to the De Soto marquee.
So, if you know of an individual or a group of members who deserve a large pat-on-the-back for their special effort, please nominate them for either one of our Special Achievement Awards, or for the Hernando De Soto Award, or both. Each nomination for these awards should include a detailed description of what this member has done for our club or our members or our De Sotos. For the Special Achievement Awards, please submit your nomination(s) to me by either mailing it to 2214 Grange Hall Rd, Beavercreek, OH 45431-2338, USA; or by e-mailing it to nobledesoto@ameritech.net. For the Hernando De Soto Award, please submit your nomination(s) to Greg Walters by either mailing it to 1308 Clark Ave, Piqua, OH 45356-3016, USA; or by e-mailing it to desoto1956@hotmail.com. Please have your nominations in no later than 21 July, 2017. Thank you for your participation in the acknowledgement of the special efforts put forth by our members.
Bill Noble
NDC Special Achievement Award Coordinator
