2008 Service Award Winners
RALPH TOLBERT
Ralph first heard about orienteering while in the Army. He became involved with Boy Scouts in Chester County and joined DVOA in 1995. He is employed by Agilent Technologies, a company that manufactures testing equipment. His hobbies include orienteering and trap shooting.
Ralph has directed or co-directed 23 local events, including the first DVOA local event to be officially advertised as an e-punch event. This was on August 20, 2000. He helps with scout events, does course vetting, has done course design for A events and can be depended on to help however needed. He has been especially active in our A event efforts in Maryland and at Reading. He also maintains Set #2 of our equipment, another important and at times frustrating job.
Ralph served as vice president of our club from 2000 until 2004 and then served as club president from 2004 until 2008. He is also the alternate representative to the United States Orienteering Federation from the Mid-Atlantic region.
STEVE ARONSON & SHARON SIEGLER
Steve joined DVOA in 1993 and Sharon joined in 2000. Steve is a carpenter and Sharon is an engineering librarian at Lehigh University. One of their hobbies is working at Celtic Festivals in Bethlehem.
According to Ed Scott's records, Steve and Sharon have directed 24 events separately or as a team. Steve was the event director for the 1995 US Short O championship at VF Fatlands / US Relay Championships on the French Creek Central map. It was his first experience as an event director and everything went like clockwork. They organized the first DVOA Canoe O event and since 2003 have organized the club Long O championships. At present they are much involved in planning and course design for our spring A event at a new location at Lehigh University and Hickory Run.
Sharon is listed as the official social coordinator for our club. You may have noticed her organizational skills in the kitchen at the winter meeting, but perhaps the contribution for which many of you know Steve and Sharon best is their culinary skills at feeding over a hundred and fifty hungry orienteers at the annual training weekend at Hickory Run. The food is always good and plentiful. Even the bears come by, hoping for leftovers!
RON AND ALI BORTZ
Ron first became involved with our club through Boy Scout Troop 529 and joined DVOA in 1992. He is a retired contractor. Ali has been a bookkeeper and is also an exercise guru, with special interests in bicycle spinning and kick boxing. Their hobbies include reading and outdoor activities.
According to Ed Scott, who keeps careful records on events, Ron and Ali have directed five events for our club and Ron has designed courses for several more. They have both volunteered as helpers at many events. Ron is currently serving a term as one of our club trustees.
It was Ali's idea to plant forty trees to celebrate our club's fortieth anniversary and at the same time, give something back to one of the parks that we use frequently. She kept the ball rolling until the deed was accomplished at French Creek last fall. A write-up of that event appeared recently not only in our own club newsletter but also in the national magazine Orienteering North America.
