2009 Service Award Winners
THE CORNISH FAMILY
Mark first heard of orienteering through Boy Scout Troop 29 and joined DVOA back in 1993. His wife Connie is not a competitive orienteer herself, but supports the rest of the family in their interest. Hunter has grown up through the ranks of scouting and our club and has done well in competition as champion in his age category for several years. Last year he was a member of the US Junior team competing in Sweden. Daughter Susan also is active in Junior activities and is a past champion in her age category. The family has directed nine local events and an A event, besides helping with scout events and junior fund raising and other activities. They have done some mapping at Warwick and can be counted on to help however needed. Mark served as a DVOA trustee from 2001 to 2006.
Mark owns a house framing company and the family lives in Reading.
THE AHLSWEDE FAMILY
Karl saw an article in a newspaper about orienteering back in 1998. He decided to try it but claims that he got lost on the way to his first event! Since then he has often appeared in our top10 list for greatest distance orienteered, greatest climb and most controls punched. He has orienteered in some unusual places. He won the unofficial Greenland Orientering championship in 2005 for the "old guys" division, besting the only two other competitors in his class. He finished the challenging 20km Arctic Midnight Orienteering race held in Greenland, coming in next to last, ahead of the only woman entered in the race.
Sandy says her first orienteering event was the DVOA meet in August 2001 at Warwick County Park when she finished second to her future stepson on the beginner White course. She admitted fear of bugs, poison ivy, and all the mysterious rustlings heard in the leaves, but quickly became hooked on the sport. So much so that on September 6, 2004 when she and Karl were married, the wedding cake had very beautiful and elaborate decorations with an orienteering theme. They even had an orienteering course for the wedding guests at Fort Washington. Although Karl was coursesetter for our October A event at Harriman State Park they found time for a honeymoon in Europe where they participated in several orienteering events, including the WOC in Sweden.
Karl was to participate in the 2007 Jukola Relay event in Finland but was unable to participate due to a last minute injury. Sandy also attended the Finland event, and along with three other DVOA women, ran with the first ever U.S. female Venla relay team to participate in the race.
Karl and family have directed fourteen events and are willing and capable helpers at local and Class A events. Karl is presently serving at a DVOA trustee. Son Ben, age 23, is busy working for Outward Bound and attending school, but manages to attend a few events each year. He revised the Lemon Hill map to introduce Outward Bound students to the sport. Greg, age 18, is a student at Shippensburg University, but has been active with the juniors. He ran in the 2007 Jukola event and was awarded first place at the Interscholastics meet in Texas last year. He will be attending Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) in Italy this summer.He was involved with setting up the Juniors page on our web site and was a member of the DVOA team that won the USOF Relay Championship.
Karl is a heart surgeon at Lankenau Hospital where Sandy is a palliative care nurse. They live in Philadelphia and among their hobbies list photography, running, yoga, aikido, and letterboxing --- besides orienteering, of course.
CLEM MCGRATH AND DASHA BABUSHOK
Clem was introduced to orienteering at a school clinic given by Bob Putnam way back in 1985 when he was eleven years old. Kids often get excited about orienteering, but unless they have someone willing to transport them to events, their enthusiasm soon dies. Clem was lucky to have a mother, Tory Lingg, who supported his interest, started going out on courses herself and eventually set an example for service to the club by volunteering to be in charge of the String-O program for little kids that was popular at the time. We'd like to thank Clem's mother Tory, for without her encouragement we might not have Clem in the club today.
As a ninth grader Clem and two other juniors took on the daunting task of mapping Daniel Boone Homestead, notable for being an excellent wildlife habitat. He later served as DVOA vice president for a two year term in 1998 and was a trustee from 2000 to 2005. He is an economics analyst and has served as advisor for a couple of United States Orienteering Federation projects. He has been named to the US team every year since 2006. However, this award is for service, not orienteering skill. Clem, and later Clem and Dasha together, have directed quite a few local events and Clem has been involved with technical work in several Class A national events. He continues to offer well thought-out suggestions about club ranking methods and how to bring technology to better advantage in club activities.
Dasha didn't grow up orienteering, but started in 2004 when she met Clem. Her first orienteering meet was at Hibernia when they walked the Yellow course together. She accompanied Clem to the 2006 and 2007 World Orienteering Championships as the US Team representative, where she also ran the spectator races. In 2007 she and Clem, along with several other DVOAers formed a DVOA team to participate in Jukola and Venla relay races in Finland.
Although their home is in Media, Dasha is currently doing her residency in internal medicine in Boston. She is excited to continue being an active part of DVOA by helping with the Briar Patch, and both she and Clem look forward to seeing everyone at as many DVOA orienteering events as they are able to drive to.
