HLAA Awards Ceremony and Breakfast

By Cheryl Heppner

The luckiest person in Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) this morning had to be Board of Trustees member Ann Liming, who served as host for the awards. Many very deserving individuals were recognized. The award presentations were beautifully planned to give us an appreciation of the outstanding contributions of these individuals and groups. I frequently found myself misty-eyed and always found myself applauding with great enthusiasm.

I apologize in advance for any misspelling of names. For some of the recipients I have only the program book, my faith in the CART writer and best guesses to go by.

Howard E. "Rocky" Stone Humanitarian Award
George DeVilbiss, Connecticut
Presented by Ahme Stone
Honoring a past trustee for an extraordinary contribution toward the furtherance of the objective and personal exemplification of the philosophy envisioned by Howard E. Stone, the late founder of SHHH (now HLAA).

Keystone Award
Anne Pope, New York
Presented by Terry Portis
Honoring a member for outstanding achievement and/or contribution to the establishment, advancement, and continued success of HLAA.

Spirit of HLAA
Carrie Welter, Augusta, GA
Ed Schickel, Bardstown, KY
Bev Ziarko, Kent, WA (accepted by Bob Branigan)
Marianne Lock, Southampton, PA
Mary Honomichl, Houston, TX
Presented by Ann Liming
Honoring selfless dedication to the development of HLAA which has led to its success and embodiment of the philosophy and spirit of HLAA.

Advocacy Award
Joan Haber, Sarasota, FL
Joe Gordon, New York, NY
HLAA Pennsylvania
Presented by Brenda Battat
Honoring an individual, chapter, or state organization for outstanding accomplishments in educating others about crucial and legislative issues important to people with hearing loss.

Family Involvement Award
The Vern and Bing Thayer Family, Rochester, NY
Presented by Ahme Stone
Honoring dedicated family members and their contribution to the growth and development of HLAA.

Professional Advisors Award
Dr. Paul Dutcher, Rochester, NY
Max McCarthy, M.A. CCC-A, Houston, TX
Presented by Brenda Battat
Honoring the supportive role that professional advisors to an HLAA affiliate lend to the mission and goals of HLAA and educating consumers about hearing loss.

Chapter Website Award
John Hennessy, Webmaster, Long Beach/Lakewood Chapter
Presented by Toni Barrient
Honoring websites that are excellent educational tools and outreach vehicles.

Chapter Newsletter Award
San Jose, CA Chapter, SHHHaring, Editor Esther Snively (accepted by Regine
Castle)
Albuquerque, NM Chapter, Wired for Sound, Editor Steve Frazier (accepted by
Carol Sliney)
Honorable Mention: HLAA of Snohomish County, WA, Hearing and Beyond, Editor
Dave Pearson (accepted by Bob Branigan)
Presented by Barbara Kelley
Honoring newsletters that are excellent educational tools and outreach vehicles.

Founder's Day Recognition
California State Association
San Antonio, TX Chapter
San Francisco, CA Chapter
Diablo Valley, CA Chapter
Rochester, NY Chapter
Sacramento, CA Chapter
Shasta County, CA Chapter
Lane County, OR Chapter
Texas State Organization
Manhattan, NY Chapter
Presented by Toni Barrient
Honoring associations and chapters that raised $500 or more.

Recognition for Retiring State Leaders
Bonne Bandolas, Oregon state chapter coordinator, 2005-2006
Victoria Blalock, Tennessee chapter coordinator, 2005
John Centa, Region X coordinator, 1989-2006
Jerry Hohnbaum, Region VI coordinator, 1989-2006
Gil Martell, Montana state coordinator, 2002-2006
Karen Molder, Texas state coordinator, 2003-2005
Sandi Streeter, California state association president, 2003-2006
David Viers, Oregon state association president, 2004-2006
Carrie Welter, Georgia state chapter coordinator, 2001-2005
Presented by Toni Barrient and Brenda Battat

Off the Cuff
I wish I could share all of the personal stories about these hard-working, talented people and organizations. It was an inspiration to learn about the talents and dedication that have made this organization so unique. I hope that HLAA will find a way to publish a transcript of all the awards on its website.

To give just five excerpts from the morning's award presentations:

Ahme Stone, in her presentation of the Rocky Stone Award to George DeVilbiss, recognized his optimistic outlook, willingness to share his tools, 'we can do anything' philosophy, wisdom from experience, constant focus on what helps others, and determination to live life to its fullest. She finshed her presentation by saying that if Rocky were here, he'd say of this award to George "it's about time!"

Terry Portis, in his presentation of the Keystone Award to Anne Pope, said she was clearly the most important person to the organization this year, and that he told her she'd put in so many hours a week that she could qualify for employee benefits. He explained to her that what this means is you get time off to stay home and not be on a laptop.

Brenda Battat, in her presentation of the Advocacy Award to Joe Gordon, said that his knowledge, determination, passion and advocacy skills have opened many doors. He's been involved in pushing for NY State movie captioning, advising Staten Island Hospital staff on patient care, and serves on the FCC's Consumer Advisory Commission, AOL's Access Advisory Committee, and the NY State Relay Advisory Board.

Ahme Stone, in her presentation of the Family Involvement Award, noted that Vern Thayer is 90 and Bing is 92. Daughter Connie accompanied them to represent the children and granchildren. All three were in matching tee shirts. Vern has the hearing loss. Bing is an artist who donates her work to support the chapter; Connie also has her mother's artistic talent and volunteer spirit. Son Paul contributes financially. Daughter Marcia became an interpreter in case her dad lost all his hearing. Connie's daughter Mackenzie was a Walk4Hearing captain. Vern said that two days ago he and Bing just celebrated the 65th anniversary of what continues to be a trial marriage. The Thayers point to Rocky and Ahme as their role models.

Brenda Battat, in her presentation to Max McCarthy, noted that he had been a tireless volunteer at every convention for many, many years. Max joked in his acceptance speech that Toni sent him a form letter telling him he was getting an award and asking if he was coming to the convention or not. In a word, his response was "duh?" Max also recounted that back when SHHH was struggling financially he did a lot of praying because he believes in the power of prayer. One day Rocky told him, "You can get off your knees now." Max replied, "Rocky, we don't ever stop praying for this organization."

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