Fall 2017 | 17 VAST AWARDS hand that not all of the topics that the directors deal with are easy. I can only assimilate some of those experiences to cooking bacon naked. You know it’s going to hurt, you don’t know when or how bad, its inevitable, but if you can hang in there till the end, you get bacon. This director was instrumental in putting together the military ride last winter and this year’s Annual Meeting. This director, although she is retiring from being a director next month, has committed to stay involved in VAST in other leadership positions, and like some other directors we know, will stay on as alternate director. This year’s Director of the Year is the Lamoille county director, Carmin Lemery. Carmin is also the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for her years of service to VAST. OFFICER OF THE YEAR The recipient of the Officer of the Year has been an great addition to our VAST team. As one would expect, his dry sense of humor has always been welcome and sometimes needed. His background in his daily life also gave him a unique prospective on his position with VAST and made him an excellent addition to our team of officers. We are extremely grateful for the countless years of volunteering on all fronts, including his local club, county and VAST duties including serving on the board of directors. Unfortunately, this officer is stepping down this year. I am sure he will certainly not miss his lengthy drive to the VAST office for directors and subcommittee meetings, but we will surely miss our outgoing treasurer as he writes the next chapter on his life. This years Officer of the Year is Tom Baltrus. Tom is also receiving the Distinguished Service Award for his years of service to VAST. CARMI DUSO AWARD This year’s Carmi Duso Award is being given to someone that has been involved in VAST since he was a young man. He has spent countless years working behind the scenes on all aspects of what it takes to get it done as well as in leadership positions in his club, county and at VAST. He has not always been the most popular guy when clubs disagree, but he will tell you how it is, even if he feels it might make you mad. I can personally attest to that fact. We spent many years on the Trails Committee together carrying different opinions and butting heads, but knowing that in the end we both had VAST and the membership’s best interest at heart. He has always understood that we have to be fair to everyone, to benefit our membership but open to ideas of how that fairness is designed. He spends hours upon hours SNOWMOBILE FAMILY OF THE YEAR This family has been involved in snowmobiling for many years. They are always there when there is a meeting, trail work day or club and county events. It doesn’t seem to matter what is going on, they will be there until the end. When you ask others about them, “dependable and reliable” are the first two words that come to mind and “a lot of fun to be around.” They are always working on logistics behind the scenes. One person even called them the “wizards behind the curtain” for the club. Whenever they aren’t committed to a work detail, they can be found out on the trail riding their snowmobiles which, in the end, is what it is all about. This year’s Snowmobile Family of the Year goes to Matt and Bobbi Rooney. SNOWMOBILE CLUB OF THE YEAR This year’s Snowmobile Club of the Year is a fairly young club compared to most here in Vermont. Since their inception, they have been driven to succeed as if they were a seasoned old club and have striven from day one to uphold the VAST mission statement of providing a trail system second to none. They go above and beyond to make sure their membership’s needs are met whether keeping up with grooming the trails, holding events or keeping the membership informed. This would include poker rides and calcuttas. They have a young group of officers which brings new energy to go along with the seasoned volunteer members and makes for a good balance of team work. This year’s recipient of Snowmobile Club of the Year is the Northeast Kingdom Snow Blasters. DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR This year’s Director of the Year spends countless hours volunteering for their local club, county and VAST. This director also has the rigorous job of planning, attending and supporting our events, an extremely busy and important task for VAST. This director has never shied away from tackling the tough issues and has never turned away from doing the right thing. Even when the agenda has a topic that brings a white elephant in the room and no one wants to be the first person to ask the tough questions, this director will get the ball rolling and see the issue through to resolution. I can attest first