2002: Lorraine Henderson
2002 Meritorious Service Award goes a very special person who has been a member of Pennwriters since 1989. During these past 12 years, she has served the organization faithfully and energetically as Secretary in 1991; as Elections Chair from 1992 to 1995, and most recently in 2001 as the Area Three Representative. The Area Rep position, however, was no mystery to Lorraine Henderson, by any means. In the past, when Area Three had found itself Rep-less, Lorraine, along with her steadfast cohorts, Jan Franz, Donna Rushneck and Polly Moran, heartily stepped in to keep Area Three active by organizing such popular events as the Agent Luncheon in December. Although it was never recognized officially, there have been many times I remember Henderson, Franz, Rushneck, and Moran, whom the Board of Directors affectionately referred to as “The Law Firm,” listed on the back of the newsletter as the Area Three Rep. Perhaps Lorraine’s most important contribution to the organization has been her willingness to keep the Area Three monthly luncheons alive for 6 consecutive years, in which all that time there was only once she ended up eating alone. In the past year as the official Area Three Rep, Lorraine has held two highly successful workshops, bringing in new members and rejuvenating interest among the Pittsburgh membership. She helped revitalize Area 3 with lots of informative meetings, events and workshops. Certainly she has done that and more.
2001: C.J. Houghtaling
CJ has served on the board as an area representative. She has been a conference coorindator at least twice, putting together some of the organization’s most memorable conferences, and also originating the Saturday Night Race Track event which has become a tradition for Grantville conferences. CJ organized the poetry contest and served as web master. She has organized, reorganized and retyped our policies and procedures manuals. She has served as treasurer and was responsible for bringing a uniform system of record keeping to the group both in the form of our general ledger, and also in terms of forms for workshops, member reimbursement forms, and budget. She created and sold Pennwriters merchandise, hosted workshops, created critique groups, and assisted the Pennwriters president.