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Recreation Northwest Announces the 2019 Great Outdoors Awards Winners

September 7, 2019 by Todd Elsworth Leave a Comment

Wait for it!

Before we jump right into the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT (yes, I’m a storyteller)… Here’s some background on the genesis of the event. For the past 3 years, we have hosted our Breakfast of Champions fall fundraiser at Boundary Bay. We were able to boast about our program work, celebrate our events and highlight some of our Parkscriptions Providers.

The room was consistently filled with OUTDOOR RECREATION CHAMPIONS, representing the breadth and depth of our industry and community.  We wanted the opportunity to shine the light on YOU and your colleagues who work and play in the outdoors. 


The Great Outdoor Awards on Saturday evening, October 12th at Bellingham Technical College from 5  -9 pm will be your chance to recognize and celebrate colleagues, organizations and businesses who inspire and enable people to enjoy, preserve and improve the places we play in Washington State. Celebrate our Champions in style at our awards dinner, ceremony & fundraiser for Recreation Northwest’s programs. 

 

2019 Great Outdoors Awards Categories
Community Collaboration, Engaging Youth, Experience Catalyst, GTFO, Manufacturer, Media, New Business, and Outdoor Events


2019 Winners 

Community Collaboration = Galbraith Access Preserved Forever! 
City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation, Leslie Bryson
Galbraith Tree Farm, LLC, Rob Janicki
Whatcom Land Trust, Rich Bowers
Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition, Eric Brown

Engaging Youth
Y.E.T.I. – Youth Experiential Training Institute
John Nelson and Talia Hirsch

Experience Catalyst
Radical Roots MTB
Angi Weston

GTFO
GeoCaching.com
Bryan Roth

Manufacturer
Eddyline Kayaks
Tom Remsing

Media
Freehub Magazine / Craft MTB
Brandon Watts

New Business
Prime Sports Institute
Kerry Gustafson and Erica Quam

Outdoor Events
Whatcom Events
Anna Rankin

2019 Nominees 

Laurie Benson, Washington State Department of Natural Resources

Fairhaven Runners

Family Care Network 

Brian Morrison, Fleet Feet Sports Seattle

Kip Zwolinski, Incite! Cycles

Kristi Kucera, Moondance Sea Kayak Adventures

Heather Saulsbury, PNW Bushcraft

Nadine Van Niekerk, Shifting Gears

Tim Wahl, Retired, City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation

Who was eligible? We didn’t list specific categories  – we let you drive, this first time around. To give you a nudge in the right direction, we asked you to consider the breadth of the OUTDOOR RECREATION INDUSTRY as it relates to the following categories and the people and companies making it happen: Gear & Equipment • Retailers • Guides & Tours • Health & Fitness • Outdoor Activity & Clubs • Stewardship & Education • Government / Land Managers • Events • Media • Professional Athletes. 

Nominations were due August 15th. We expressly thank the nominators for bringing all these superstars of the outdoor industry to our attention.

With the nominations we received, our volunteer committee* had the challenging task of narrowing it down to 8 out of the impressive list, many receiving multiple nominations. After we chose the winners, we assigned titles to the categories that we felt best represented the work they have accomplished. 

*Our Awards Selection Committee consisted of Recreation Northwest Board Members Andrew Olive, Coastal Insurance; Kristi Kucera, Moondance Sea Kayak Adventures; Linda Balfour, Superfeet; Niki Moltumyr, Backcountry Essentials; Jack Pflueger, Stones Throw Brewery; and myself- Todd Elsworth, Recreation Northwest.

Todd Elsworth

Todd Elsworth is one of the many “Mossy-haired lunatics roaming the dripping peninsulas”, described in “I’m Here for the Weather” by Tom Robbins. As executive director, he works to fulfill our mission to teach the health benefits of nature, promote outdoor recreation, and steward the places where we play.

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Filed Under: Recreation Northwest Tagged With: Angi Weston, Anna Rankin, Brandon Watts, Breakfast of Champions, Brian Morrison, Bryan Roth, City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation, Community Collaboration, Craft MTB, Eddyline Kayaks, Engaging Youth, Eric Brown, Erica Quam, Experience Catalyst, Fairhaven Runners, Family Care Network, Fleet Feet Sports Seattle, Freehub Magazine, Galbraith Access Preserved Forever, Galbraith Tree Farm, GeoCaching.com, Great Outdoors Awards, GTFO, Heather Saulsbury, Incite! Cycles, John Nelson and Talia Hirsch, Kerry Gustafson, Kip Zwolinski, Kristi Kucera, Laurie Benson, Leslie Bryson, Manufacturer, media, Moondance Sea Kayak Adventures, Nadine Van Niekerk, New Business, Outdoor Events, outdoor industry, PNW Bushcraft, Prime Sports Institute, Radical Roots MTB, Recreation Northwest, Retired, Rich Bowers, Rob Janicki, Shifting Gears, Sustainability, Tim Wahl, Tom Remsing, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Whatcom Events, Whatcom Land Trust, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition, Y.E.T.I. - Youth Experiential Training Institute

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Recreation Northwest is a 501(c)3 charity. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Our non-profit federal tax-exempt number is 46-1774882.

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