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The Mortensen Award 1999 Affirmation Conference, Lake Tahoe, California October 9, 1999 The Mortensen Award was established, under the direction of Ron Kershaw, in 1987. It was decided the award would be given annually to the one individual who had given outstanding service and leadership to Affirmation. It is the only continuing award Affirmation presents and it tries to recognize the best people in the organization. The past recipients are:
The selection committee for the award is composed of past recipients. Each year, around July, a call is sent out to all Affirmation leaders, chapters and groups asking for nominations. Anyone may nominate any individual or you may even nominate yourself. The receipt of nomination letters constitutes the only people considered for the award. The award was established and intended to always be an award for service to Affirmation. This is the only consideration in the selection of the recipient. We greatly applaud those wonderful souls in our midst who also make great contributions to the gay and lesbian community at large. We especially applaud those people who have made outstanding efforts in the Mormon community through related groups such as Family Fellowship, Gamofites and others in increasing the understanding of the gay and lesbian Mormon community. But because the Mortensen Award is intended to honor only service and leadership to Affirmation, the winner is decided totally on the merits of the nomination letters received and the contributions to Affirmation as spelled out in those letters. And now on to this year's recipient. Presented by last year's winner, David Johnson:
I have the great honor of introducing the recipient of the 1999 Mortensen Award for outstanding leadership and service to Affirmation. Ricky has introduced the people that have been nominated to receive the award this year Each of them is outstanding and certainly worthy of receiving the award However, we had to select just one. This year the committee has chosen someone who has made substantial contributions both at the local and national levels of Affirmation. This is the third time he has been nominated - so indeed the third time is the charm. This year's recipient of the Mortensen Award has been associated with Affirmation for 12 years and during that time he has given continuously and tirelessly of his time, energy, and emotional strength. You would be hard pressed to find anyone in Affirmation who has consistently and completely committed himself to Affirmation non stop over the course of 12 years. As soon as I mention any one of his accomplishments you will know who he is, so please hold the applause to the end to allow me to list a few of those accomplishments. He first started to work for the organization in Arizona where Affirmation became his primary devotion. He moved to San Diego and then San Francisco where he was the primary force in keeping those chapters functioning. One person said of his work in San Francisco: "He and his partner came to San Francisco at a time when the chapter was about to fold. He opened his home for meetings, began publishing a newsletter and worked hard to arrange for interesting activities and meetings. He made these contributions with love and consideration for all persons who were involved. In my view, he saved the Chapter.” Along his journeys he has been the co-chair of both the San Diego and the Portland conferences. He cared deeply about these events and seriously worked to make them the very best they could possibly be. There is nothing he does half-heartedly, and the conferences were no exception. The time and effort he put into last year's conference in Portland was astonishing and a testament to how important Affirmation is to him. But his commitment to Affirmation is best exemplified in the web site that he single-handedly has made Affirmation's most visible calling card around the world. He spends most all his free time working on the web site, constantly updating and expanding it to meet the always changing needs of Affirmation. Besides the constant work of maintaining the site, he also takes the time to respond to e-mails from visitors to the site. He was asked recently why he spends so much time on the web site and the other projects he has done for Affirmation. He answers that it is his way of giving service to those who are most in need. He knows from personal experience, as do most of us, what it means to feel that you are the only one, and that none can understand or care. This is why the web site and Affirmation means so much to him. It provides him a powerful way of expressing this dedication to helping others. The fact that he offered to undertake this major work at a time in Affirmation when web sites were still new and that he continues to work at keeping it one of Affirmation's most pivotal resources only underscores his selfless devotion to our organization. The major revamping of the web site that went on line this last April took hundreds and hundreds of hours of work. In spite of all that he has done and continues to do, he has never sought the spotlight in any way. In fact, he prefers to work in the background, to make sure that everything goes just right. But like anyone else, he needs to know that others appreciate what he is doing. It is long overdue to show our appreciation for him. It is totally appropriate that he be formally recognized for the countless hours of quality service he has given to the organization. Affirmation would be greatly diminished if he were not a part of us. And so it is with great honor that we give the 1999 Mortensen Award for outstanding leadership and service in Affirmation to Henry Miller from Portland, Oregon. |
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