by Stuart Nelson
BVA National Secretary Dr. Sidney Ordway recently questioned the origin and authority by which the Association’s annual achievement awards are presented. He was especially interested in the history of the Gold and Silver Gavel Awards, having searched the BVA bylaws without locating any reference to either award.
Dr. George Stocking responded with the requested information. He reported that the Board of Directors had indeed established the Gold and Silver Gavel Awards at its winter meeting in 1975. From almost the very outset, the directive was given not to announce the winners until the Saturday night Awards Banquet so that some suspense could be retained in the process.
At that time, as now, the Gold and Silver Gavel Awards are, respectively, given to the regional group that has the largest numerical increase in membership and the greatest percentage of increase in membership during the previous fiscal year (July 1-June 30).
A discrepancy may occur between the numbers reported for the Gavel Awards and the numbers reported in the Credentials Committee report. This is because there is a slightly different time frame involved for both. The Gavel Awards are based on fiscal year numbers while the numbers reported in the Credentials Committee report reflect the number of members in good standing as close to the time of the convention as possible.
As with the Gavel Awards, the Maas, Diener, Long, and Schnair Awards are not referenced anywhere in the BVA bylaws. All were established by the Board of Directors but none were renewed or revisited on an annual basis.
The BVA National Headquarters Staff had nothing to do with instituting the Gavel Awards nor the process used to determine the winners. The initiative came from the Board in 1975. The only action taken by the Board since then was to formalize a decision made by Administrative Director Tut Vale in 1979 that one regional group should not receive both awards in the same year. It is perfectly feasible that a regional group could, in the same year, have the greatest number of new members and also the largest percentage increase in membership. In such cases the Silver Gavel should go to the regional group with the next largest percentage increase in membership.
The Maas Award has the longest history of all of the awards. It was originally called the BVA Achievement Award and later became known as the Nat Newman Award after the man who provided the stipend for the award. When Newman stopped providing the stipend, its name reverted to the BVA Achievement Award. To Dr. Stocking’s knowledge, the Board was not involved in renaming it the Major General Melvin J. Maas Award. His suspicion is that this took place sometime after Tut became the Administrative Director in 1975 and before an Executive Director was named in 1985. Three individuals outside of BVA operations (meaning no staff, no Board, and no members) are selected to judge the nominees. The individuals are usually connected in some way to the field of rehabilitation.
The Diener Award was established in 1961 when Irving Diener put up $50 to present to the individual selected. The stipend was originally the amount of life membership dues for one person. The three most recent Past National Presidents are the judges for this award. From what Dr. Stocking remembers, other than recognizing the change in who provides the stipend, there has been no action by the Board regarding the Diener Award since its inception.
The Long Award was established soon after Will Long’s death in 1987. The Schnair Award was established more recently. The stipend for the latter is paid by the New York Regional Group in David Schnair’s memory. The judges for the Schnair Award are the National Director of the Field Service Program, one District Director, and a Field Service Representative.
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