[Harp-L] Know someone who deserves a SPAH award? Nominate by July 15

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

What if nobody received an annual award from SPAH this year? If youâre a SPAH 
member, you may not have noticed the Awards Nomination Packet among all the 
convention literature that came with your last Harmonica Happenings.
 
The deadline for receipt of submissions is extended to July 15, 2011. 
 
If you want to nominate someone for an award, get the award nomination packet 
at: 

 
http://www.spah.org/images/stories/convention2011/SPAH%20Award%20packet%202011-02.pdf

 
You donât need to use the forms in the packet to submit a nomination. Email your 
submission to spahawards@xxxxxxxxxx
 
Below is more information on SPAH award
 
Excellence is a quality that is worth honoring. Do you know a harmonica player, 
or builder, or maker of harmonica related gear you feel is so exceptional, so 
excellent, that you feel they should be formally recognized?
 
If youâre a member of SPAH, you can nominate someone for one of the three awards 
that SPAH makes every year to honor exceptional members of the harmonica 
community. This year is no exception, and now is the time to nominate someone 
you feel is worthy. Evaluation and final decisions are made by the SPAH Board of 
Directors, and awards are presented at the annual SPAH convention in August.
 
One of SPAHâs current goals is to get the SPAH community more actively involved 
in honoring our exceptional players, writers, teachers, builders, and 
manufacturers. To that end, weâre working to clearly state the criteria, 
demystify the nomination process, and make nominating candidates easier. Hence 
this announcement to the larger harmonica community.
 
June 30, 2010 is the deadline for nominating candidates for 2010. This deadline 
was incorrectly stated in the Spring 2010 issue of the SPAH magazine, Harmonica 
Happenings. I apologize for the short notice, but this responsibility fell to me 
quite recently and itâs taken a little time to put together the materials. In 
future we should be able to announce earlier in the year and process nominations 
more easily.
 
You can read about these awards, the criteria, and the procedures in greater 
detail by downloading the SPAH 2011 Awards Nomination Packet from 

 
http://www.spah.org/images/stories/convention2011/SPAH%20Award%20packet%202011-02.pdf
 
 
The packet contains the criteria and procedures for all three awards, 
biographies and photos of the luminaries for whom the awards are named, and the 
nomination forms for all three awards. You can print the forms and send them by 
snail mail, or you can fill them in electronically and email them back to an 
address on the form.
 
So what are these awards?
 
The SPAH Award of Special Merit honors individuals or organizations who may or 
may not be harmonica players but who benefited the harmonica community in a 
manner that is deserving of singular honor.
 
The Pete Pedersen Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals who have a 
record of achievements over a long period of time that may reasonably be 
considered to be the virtual equivalent of a lifetime. Candidates that have 
established themselves as outstanding harmonica players are preferred. 
Candidates should be active in promoting the preservation and advancement of the 
harmonica and the positive and meaningful interaction of harmonica players and 
devotees. Candidates should demonstrate generosity in sharing their talents and 
knowledge, and in remaining accessible to members of the harmonica community.
 
The Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year Award is awarded to individuals 
whose proficiency in playing the harmonica is a source of pride for the 
community â the Bernie Bray award is for excellence in actually playing the 
instrument. The award is for distinction demonstrated or attained recently, 
preferably during a twelve month period prior to the deadline for nominations.
 
Thanks for your attention. I hope we can nominate some really deserving 
candidates this year with plenty of input from the SPAH membership.
 
Winslow Yerxa
SPAH Awards Committee 
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
Harmonica instructor, The Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance
Resident expert, bluesharmonica.com
Columnist, harmonicasessions.com