Highlights from the 2022 Awards Banquet

The theme this year was the 1970s, to commemorate our club’s 50th anniversary (which actually snuck by during the pandemic). Members were encouraged to dress in period clothing and listen to 1971 tunes supplied by DJ Blanchard (Lynn’s husband).

Nearly 70 club members and invited guests attended the event February 2 at the Monarch Hotel, feasting on delicious beef, salmon or vegetarian meal options. Adult beverages were available from the no-host bar located in the spacious banquet room.

The featured master of ceremony was “Krank Cogsette,” aka Doug Myers. Krank passed on historical facts of life in 1971 as a Portland Wheelmen Touring Club member. Between the 1971 PWTC/PBC history lesson and the recognition of award winners was a “name that tune” game, featuring many snippets from popular commercial jingles, TV shows, and movies from that year.  ✎ 

Mugs were given to those who rode 2000 or more club miles in 2022. Everyone who rode 500+ miles earned a colorful PBC lapel pin. Ride leaders earned a nice pair of club socks, and those who led 12 or more rides received a $25 Starbucks gift card. Fourteen lifetime accumulative mileage plaques were passed out, including the 290K level for Dick Weber’s 293,562 miles.

For the eight official award categories requiring written nominations, 11 club members nominated 27 different people. Here are the award winners and edited excerpts from the written nominations received.

1. Jim Mooney Member of the Year: Corey Eng

Corey meets (mostly he greatly exceeds) the criteria for this award. Yes, he has been a recipient before. That fact is not a disqualifier. I’m a big believer that the recipient of the Member of the Year Award be someone who has really been outstanding throughout the year. I mean greatly surpassed the others. Corey did. As treasurer, he is respected and looked to for guidance in not just financial matters but all club discussions. He has generated financial reports for us showing expenditures from every angle. He has graciously generated additional reports at the request of board members. He is a favorite ride leader on the west side, known to be a strong rider himself, but one who looks out for those not as capable. He has been volunteer coordinator for both Pioneer and STP, and showed competence and creativity filling volunteer positions. Throughout 2022, Corey has remained our rock of stability as we moved forward with activities. Corey is stepping away from some duties he has performed for PBC. This coveted award is a small token to symbolize our appreciation for all he has done for our club, particularly in 2022.

2. Valued Member of the Year: Christi Horton

Christi is a member in good standing and has been active in the club since 2016. For the last year and a half, she has served on the board as membership secretary. When she took Cindy’s place as membership secretary, she had great skills and was the perfect fit, but she had not been regularly active in the club. She quickly got up to speed, then Covid hit. She was instrumental in keeping the board informed about drops in membership and had great ideas to entice members back. When riders felt more comfortable coming out to ride, she had her hands full with the huge influx of members (new and renewed). There are always a number of problems handling the membership roll, from user-error to website bugs, and Christi has handled them. Due to Cindy Bernert-Coppola’s webmaster role, she is cc’d on much of the club correspondence and can see firsthand how Christi interacts with our members, and she’s great. Christi took on a significant role with the Pioneer in advertising the event and headed up one of the rest stops. She and her husband rode the Jim O’Horo CGE, and when Dave McQuery had a medical issue, assisted him, accompanying him to the next campground. Her experience as a guide for Adventure Cycling will come in handy when she co-leads the CGE in 2023. All in all, the club is fortunate to have this very valuable member.

2. Valued Member of the Year: Dave McQuery

Dave has served on the PBC board as an active member at large. As a member of the safety committee, he collaborated on articles and authored the following: “My Crash,” a description of his collision on a PBC ride on the Springwater Corridor Trail and the following safety related articles throughout the year, “Braking and Turning,” “Emergency Contact,” “Tools,” “Puddle Peril Pedaling,” and “Bike Lanes.”

After filling in for the PBC program coordinator, Dave arranged for guest speakers for our general membership meeting in January, September, October and November. Topics included the possible effects to cycling with the Burnside Bridge update, Bontrager wave cell helmet technology, Cycle Oregon cycling vacation, and bike touring in the Czech Republic.

Dave volunteered on our two major events, the Pioneer Metric Century and Seattle to Portland (STP). Dave helped pick up and load the delivery truck at our storage unit and Costco for the Pioneer. For STP, Dave spent four days over the extended weekend, which included installing and retrieving directional route signs between the Longview Bridge and the Portland finish line on Friday and Monday. Sandwiched between these two days were his 12-hour long shifts as bike loading team leader.

He was once again the organizer of the return of the post-COVID Jim O’Horo Memorial Columbia Gorge Explorer held over the long Memorial Day weekend. This year was especially eventful with health issues as explained in Dave’s “Member Memories” article in the July Quick Releases. This apparently did not deter Dave from planning a six-day bike camping trip for August, which had to be cancelled due to personal matters.

Dave led 19 rides and attended 71 rides for 3267 club miles. He often cycles from his suburban westside residence to eastside starting locations, adding over 40 miles to the ride. Dave has been known to go out of his way accompanying “newbies” back to their “misplaced” car.

3. Volunteer of the Year: Eric Hendricks

This year’s STP had transportation issues beyond our control; Eric, as STP finish Line coordinator, took charge of the situation and worked directly with the bus company to communicate to mitigate the damage. His leadership was top notch. He also drove SAG for the Pioneer and is always willing to lend a hand when needed. We are privileged that he has taken on the STP again for 2023.

3. Volunteer of the Year: Ann Morrow

Ann acts as a support beam for the foundation of our club. She has certainly been recognized for her contributions to PBC since joining in 1992. Ann earned the club’s highest honors as Jim Mooney Member of the Year in 2002 and 2014 and was awarded Valued Member of the Year in 2000 and 2008. She has been recognized as Ride Leader of the Year in 2010 and twice as the Newt Acker Goodwill Ambassador in 2006 and 2018. Showing her value to past presidents has led to four President’s Choice Awards in 1995, 2008, 2015 and 2017. And yes, she has been awarded the coveted Old Fart Award in 2014.

Prior to now, Ann had been recognized for every major award except Volunteer of the Year. Ann easily meets all the written criteria for this award. As vice president, she chaired multiple board and club meetings in the president’s absence. Each month, she reminded the board and other interested parties to contribute to our QR newsletter, and she penned numerous articles for the QR on various timely topics.

Ann volunteered for both PBC’s major events, serving as start/finish line director for the Pioneer Metric Century and stepping in as the STP information booth team leader, in addition to continuing as Monday bus return transportation lead. There are probably other examples I am not listing.

Ann continued her active role in the American Lung Association Reach the Beach training rides, organizing and leading rides. She led a total of 24 rides this year, including her popular “Meet PBC or Back in the Saddle Again” series. Ann rode on 54 rides and for 1593 club miles.

3. Volunteer of the Year: Dick Weber

Dick volunteers every year at STP and the Pioneer. He also offers his services for the Friends of the Historic Columbia River Highway’s Gorge Ride and is one of the Reach the Beach training series ride leaders. He leads many PBC rides and is a familiar friendly face on many rides. Dick has never received this award.

4. Newt Acker Goodwill Ambassador: Khaliyah Williams-Rodriguez

On any ride in which Khaliyah participates, she can be heard chatting with others, asking them about how they’re doing, laughing with that great laugh of hers, and making folks comfortable. At the Pioneer, she co-coordinated the finish line festivities, bringing balloons, noise makers, and music to the event. At the STP, she was the team leader for the volunteer booth, welcoming and guiding our volunteers to their positions. She coordinated the picnic for the second year in a row, and did a fantastic job, making sure everyone had a good time and got lots to eat! Khaliyah is a great asset to our club, serving our members and the public.

5. Ride Leader of the Year: Joel Loh

This award winner is an adventure rider at heart who shares his passion collaboratively with other adventurers. He’s adaptable, supportive, and most of all motivated to provide PBC riders with interesting rides that provide unique paths to great destinations. He willingly shares his expansive knowledge of hidden routes and cut-throughs. His rides head north to Washington, south to Lake Oswego and Canby Ferry, east to the Gorge or on classic loops around town. He’s great at planning ahead so that riders can know exactly what to expect on their ride. He has even gone so far as to use a group chat to notify regular attendees of impacting weather conditions. He’s conscientious and helpful to all riders. He’s always looking for the next great adventure! Joel has a winning personality and is extremely welcoming and encouraging to both old and new riders alike, while making each rider feel comfortable and the ride itself interesting. Joe led 41 rides in 2022.

6. Most Improved Rider of the Year: Denise Hare

Denise really upped her game this year (in part, due to her sabbatical leave). She had 4045 miles on 123 rides in 2022 vs. 707 on 20 rides in 2021. She gained speed and took on more and more challenging routes, including Cycle Oregon.

6. Most Improved Rider of the Year: Maria Sworske

Maria increased her mileage (3296 in 2022 on 105 rides vs. 2145 in 2021 on 61 rides) as well as her abilities while training for her first Cycle Oregon, about which she presented at a club meeting. What we enjoy about Maria is that even though she can keep up with the faster riders, she takes time to enjoy the scenery, talk to people, and take lots of pictures!

7. Most Improved New Rider of the Year: Scott Israel

Scott joined the club (with his wife Mary Samuels) in November 2021 and accumulated 1534 miles in 2022 on 47 rides, including the Idaho Tour and the Bud’s Central Oregon rides. By being around our seasoned riders, he has learned to be a better hill climber and developed more ability for longer durations on rides. He’s just an all-around nice person and an asset to our club.

8. Comeback Riders of the Year: Members who suffered injury while cycling, yet came back with style and determination to resume cycling in 2022.

• Jack Bauer
• Rolf Boettger
• Lisa Hansen

Other Awards (Written member nominations not necessary)

• President’s Choice Award: Lynn Blanchard (presented by Doug Myers) Special recognition for duties performed for the club not recognized elsewhere.
• Old Fart Award: Chip Kyle (presented by Doug Myers on behalf of Chuck Dorr) A well-earned award to a long-time deserving member!
• Get-A-Life Award: Chuck Dorr (presented by Tom Carter) In recognition of outstanding achievement. Awarded to the rider who participated in the most club rides during the Covid/post-Covid years, 466 rides in 2020-2021-2022.
• Golden Clipboard: Bud Rice (presented by Cindy Bernert-Coppola) Bud was recognized for his new, Wednesday Mystery Group Ride, where many trusting souls obediently follow him, as he seemingly ad-libs his way through the city.

Click here to see Past Award Recipients.

Corey Eng, Awards Committee Member