The setting was perfect as we gathered for the 2022 Awards Banquet at our new venue, Saint Andrews Golf Course. Nearly 135 members gathered to share stories of last year’s races and give updates on their families, cars, and other hobbies during the social/cocktail hour. The time came to go through the buffet – which offered a fresh salad, delicious mashed potatoes, green beans, and a savory selection of honey ham and/or beef roast with gravy. I tried a little bit of everything and found it all to be scrumptious! After a quick trip to the dessert table, you could grab a piece of cake to top off the dinner. Did you know that our very own Ed Nicholson decorated those cakes?! He is talented on and off the track, that is for sure.
Speaking of Ed, a huge thank you goes to Ed Nicholson for chairing this event along with committee members – Phil Meredith, Paula Diehl, and Jessica Dorn. We all missed the long-serving Awards Banquet extraordinaire, Lisa Kern-Fitzgerald, but she left us with plenty of notes and details to keep things on track and Ed handled it all with such poise. Another thank you goes out to Justin Walker, aka the voice of our Awards Banquets, for emceeing the event once again. He came prepared with inspirational stories about never giving up and not waiting around, he kept us on task throughout the evening, and he even shared a funny story here and there about some of our award winners. And one final thank you goes out to our photographer, Andy Shultz of WJP Aerial. He had our photos posted and ready for sharing the next morning so nobody had to wait to share their good news!
There are plenty of awards to review, but for now I am going to start with a couple Kansas City Region awards. Stay tuned for the Solo awards, RallyCross awards, and the Road Racing awards. While all the programs mainly focus on who is the fastest, these awards go beyond driving skills and look at enthusiasm, commitment, and a service-minded attitude.
NEW MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Bill Johnson said it best when he noted that this member brought an unrivaled enthusiasm for all of our programs. He didn’t join the club until July 2022, but in the few remaining months, he jumped in. From the big track at Heartland Motorsports Park for Track Night in America to the short, tight courses at MCC he is trying to get the most out of his Silver 2006 Volkswagen Rabbit. Not to stop there, he is planning to give RallyCross a try as he bid on and won the chance to drive Larry G Smith’s Mazda Miata at the Halloweenie Silent Auction last year. He also plans to race in the Time Trials series this year too. The biggest kicker…he is only 17 years old and has several years to grow his passion and skills. Please join me in congratulating Parker Field as the New Member of the Year!
Parker was unable to attend the banquet, but he wanted to make sure that everyone knew how thankful he was for the constant driving tips, car set-up advice, and overall welcoming environment at our events.
NORMA WILLIAMS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Jessica Dorn presented the Norma Williams Award of Excellence and highlighted that it is intended to honor a member who has given their talents and their time to help the Club continue to grow while supporting our simple mission of having fun with cars. When it was first presented back in 2010, it was named after and given to Norma Williams in recognition of her unsurpassed dedication and service to the membership of the Kansas City Region Sports Car Club of America. When discussing the nominees with Norma Williams, she noted that this one particular nominee has touched every part of our club. Starting with her continued service to the Solo group, she has chaired and co-chaired Solo events and served on the Solo Advisory Committee. She has served in multiple positions on the Board of Directors, as Secretary, as Treasurer, even as both Secretary AND Treasurer when nobody volunteered as a nominee for the Secretary position. While serving as the RE, she made it a point to go to at least one RallyCross and Road Race event to make sure she could chat with those enthusiasts that she doesn’t get to see at the Autocross events. She has put on gimmick rallies and helped with several social events including club picnics, RC car races, and go-karting events. As a previous editor of the Checkpoint, she gave countless hours to keeping club members up-to-date and she now continues to write stories for Checkpoint and the website. Speaking of the website, her willingness to help was witnessed once again as she took over as the webmaster last summer having to learn a few new skills to do so. If that doesn’t seem like she had enough on her plate, she has also championed our “pay it forward” spirit and came up with new ways for us to help those in need with the Pop-Tops for Kids and Operation Santa initiatives last year. She also encourages women on track with the Mary Kay Ash Award and fosters a fun and welcoming environment on track as she is happy to give rides in Elvira, her 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo!
She has been a mentor to me at the track, on the Board, and in life. It is an honor to announce that this year’s Norma Williams Award of Excellence goes to Paula Diehl!
Paula, ever so gracious, first noted that Norma was one-of-a-kind and that she was honored to be considered for this award. She continued that Norma taught her so much about the Club and the administrative side of things. She then thanked all of us for encouraging and supporting her to keep racing. After her son, Jake, moved away a few years ago, she wasn’t sure she would be able to keep racing. He always took care of the car prep, and she took care of the driving! But as she voiced these concerns to the people she raced with, she got a resounding “You can do it, and we are always here to help fill in the gaps.” She said she will always be grateful for the sense of family that our club provides. Congratulations again Paula!
Vic Sadler Award:
While this is technically a Road Racing award, I felt it deserved to be highlighted here since the Vic Sadler award does not go to the best driver but was set up back in 1974 to honor the workers that are vital to putting on a Road Race. Back then, the worker of the year was selected based on the worker who accumulated the most points. Throughout the years, this changed and is currently a joint effort with input from the past recipient and the Board of Directors. As names were brought up, there was one name that stood out and quite honestly shocked some of us why this person hadn’t already received this award. She has been the welcoming face at registration since Heartland Motorsports Park opened. She is not only there to greet racers and workers with a smile but she is also there to guide you through the process and answer any questions you may have. As Bill Johnson noted, racers are not the most organized group of individuals and require a lot of help or “mothering” even if they have gone through the registration process a number of times before. Please join me in congratulating Linda Henson as this year’s Vic Sadler Worker of the Year!
Linda was so shocked as she walked towards the front to get her award. The smile was just as bright as the one she gives as you walk up to registration…brighter maybe as she tried to hold back her surprise. She thanked everyone who has helped her, everyone who has taken time out of their registration process to ask about her family, and every single worker as there would be no need for registration if there were no corner workers, timing and scoring workers, and so many more.
Outstanding Members for 2022:
These members went above and beyond the so-called “normal” duties to keep our club running smoothly. Thank you to Chris Kern, Gary Kern, Niles Davis, Tara Young, April Turner, Jonathan Griffith, Paula Diehl, and Mike McGinley.
Outgoing Board Members:
A special thank you to Lisa Kern-Fitzgerald, Donna Cross, and Chris Kern for serving on the Board of Directors during their 2020-2022 term.