The Indianapolis Hiking Club

INDIANAPOLIS HIKING CLUB ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Program Description | 2007 Winners | 2006 Winners | Trail Maintenance form | Trail Maintenance Opportunities

Program Description

In December 2006 the Club established a new annual program to recognize members who have accomplished exceptional things during the prior Club year, which runs from October 1 through September 30. Achievement awards will be presented at the March General Assembly to members who meet the criteria outlined below. All awards must be earned by accomplishing measurable hiking or trail maintenance tasks.

Here is a list of the nine award categories and how to earn them:

Pathfinder Award - All members who lead 50 or more hikes during the year

Trailblazer Award - All members who lead 15 or more different hikes

Millennium Award - Everyone who hikes 1,000 or more miles

Marathon Award - All members who complete the longest scheduled hike

Trail Maintenance Award - Must complete 16 hours of scheduled trail maintenance with a recognized organization, such as IHC, National Forest, Hoosier Hikers Council, Sierra Club, etc.

IndyHike.org Award - The member who contributed the most photos and/or articles to the Club website

Junior Hikers Award - Children and grandchildren of members who have hiked 100 miles prior to their 18th birthday

Milestone Award - Anyone who completes 10,000 lifetime miles with the Club

Bill and Nell Larrison Pinnacle Award - Must earn the Pathfinder, Millennium and Trail Maintenance award and lead at least twelve different hikes

All of the awards, except the Trail Maintenance Award and the IndyHike.org Award, are based on statistics taken from the annual Trail Blazer report and the mileage database, which record all hiking activity. Records kept by the Club's web-master will determine the winner of the IndyHike.org Award. The Trail Maintenance Award is based on the honor system. Interested members should record their trail maintenance activities on a the attached form and submit it to the Awards Committee per the instructions on the form. Click here for a list of possible trail maintenance opportunities.

All award recipients will be notified prior to the March General Assembly Meeting. At the General Assembly each of the award winners will be presented with memorabilia and a certificate attesting to their accomplishment.

2007 Award Winners

At the March 2008 General Assembly the second annual Achievement Awards were distributed. Beautiful hiking club jackets were donated to the winners by Bob Kriz. Following is a list of all the awardees. Click here for photos of the 2007 awards ceremony.

Pathfinder Award
The following members led 50 or more hikes during 2007:

Rena Elsner        99 hikes
Glee Crowder       84 hikes
Jean Ballinger     67 hikes
Sukhbir Singh      62 hikes
Marsha Hutchins    61 hikes
Reba Wooden        61 hikes
Rich Peck          60 hikes
Rick Kinnaman      58 hikes
Julie Litten       54 hikes
Tom Patterson      54 hikes
Ed Wright          53 hikes

Trailblazer Award
The criteria for this award was changed in 2007 to recognize everyone who leads 15 or more different hikes in a year. The following members led 15 or more different hikes in 2007:

Jean Ballinger
Marsha Hutchins
Pat Lawler
Mary Ann Layman

Millennium Award
The following members hiked more than 1,000 miles in 2007:

Glee Crowder       2,721 miles This is an all time Club record for one year 
Jeff Edmondson     2,073 miles
Jerry Heidenblut   1,753 miles
Tom Patterson      1,662 miles
Allan Roberts      1,639 miles
Rick Kinnaman      1,450 miles
Ed Wright          1,448 miles
Cherie Voege       1,398 miles
Jill McFall        1,323 miles
Rick Maxwell       1,204 miles
Ron Mutzl          1,203 miles
Tom Hollett        1,184 miles
David Kincaid      1,135 miles
Bobbie Mattasits   1,119 miles
Rita Bymaster      1,108 miles
Ellen Mutzl        1,065 miles
Ricki Jo Hoffmann  1,039 miles
Donna Chastain     1,036 miles
Joanne Applegate   1,021 miles
Frank Bymaster     1,019 miles

Marathon Award
The following members completed the longest scheduled hike in 2007 - an incredible 62 miles. They also tied the Club single day distance record.

Jeff Edmondson
Cindy West
Steve West
Frank Bymaster
Rita Bymaster
Karen Chandler
Susie Blair

Trail Maintenance Award
The following members completed more than 16 hours of trail maintenance in 2007.

Swati Gunale       120 hours  
Cecilia Mattingly
Joe Keller

IndyHike.Org Award
Jean Ballinger and Mary Ann Layman tied for contributing the most articles/photos to the Club web site during 2007. Thus they both received an award.

Junior Hikers Award
There were no new winners of this award in 2007.

Milestone Award
Only two members, Mabel Easton and Glee Crowder, cracked the 10,000 mile lifetime milestone in 2007.

Bill and Nell Larrison Pinnacle Award
There was no winner of this award for 2007, although Glee Crowder came the closest of anyone to date.

2006 Award Winners

At the March 2007 General Assembly the first annual Achievement Awards were distributed. Following is a list of all the awardees. Click here for photos of the highly successful event.

Pathfinder Award
The following members led 50 or more hikes during 2006:

Rich Peck         105 hikes
Tom Patterson      80 hikes
Rick Kinnaman      64 hikes
Ed Wright          55 hikes
Rena Elsner        54 hikes
Reba Wooden        53 hikes

Trailblazer Award
Pat Lawler won this award for leading more than 20 different hikes.

Millennium Award
The following members hiked more than 1,000 miles in 2006:

Tom Patterson      2,304 miles
Glee Crowder       2,090 miles
Jerry Heidenblut   1,663 miles
Ed Wright          1,495 miles
Jill McFall        1,458 miles
Anna Lee Johnson   1,442 miles
Allan Roberts      1,262 miles
Rick Maxwell       1,240 miles
Kathy Burch        1,199 miles
Bobbie Mattasits   1,058 miles
David Kincaid      1,053 miles
Rita Bymaster      1,037 miles
Tom Hollett        1,013 miles

Marathon Award
The following members completed the longest scheduled hike in 2006 - an incredible 62 miles. They also set a new Club single day distance record.

Cathy Bridge
Frank Bymaster
Rita Bymaster
Bonnie O'Connor
Anthony Povinelli
Sukhbir Singh
Cindy West

Trail Maintenance Award
There was no winner of this award in 2006 since records were not kept until 2007.

IndyHike.Org Award
Mary Ann Layman contributed the most photos and articles to the Club web site during 2006.

Junior Hikers Award
Since this was the first year of this award, Awards were given to children or grandchildren of active members who achieved this award in prior years.

Collin Shields    109 miles
Gavin Shields     153 miles
Ryan Shields      241 miles
Jacob Wistendahl  130 miles

Milestone Award
Since this was the first year for this award, all active members who have achieved 10,000 miles with the Club in prior years were recognized. No new members achieved this significant milestone during 2006.

Thomas Patterson
Jill McFall
John Behrmann
Mary Lester
Majorie Begeman
Bill Larrison
Robert Begeman
Allan Roberts
Rick Kinnaman
Michele Kestle
Thomas Bowers
Jim Griffin
Tom Hollett
Dennis Taft
Avis Shipman
Ben Shipman 
Genie Waltz
Mary Hodges
Charles Hodges
Marsha Hutchins
Mary Kidwell

Bill and Nell Larrison Pinnacle Award
There was no winner of this award during 2006. However, the first award was bestowed on Bill and Nell Larrison, whom the award is named after, for a lifetime of service to the Club.