Anita Baker, Courage Award recipient
Judith Kuse
It’s a Sun Lakes Hiking Club annual tradition to bestow awards on deserving members at its year-end picnic. This year was no exception. While members were gathered at Oasis Park for a potluck lunch in late March, the SLHC leadership made its official and unofficial presentations.
In the “official” category, the Sunshine Award, given to a hiker whose sunny outlook makes him/her a fun hiking companion, was awarded to Kitch Trost. Stu Frost won the ever-popular Snake Award, which is given to the first hiker each year who experiences a close encounter with a snake (usually a rattler) on an SLHC hike. The Bleeding Heart Award is presented to a hiker who suffers the pain and humiliation of injury while hiking. Brian Hill, who took a serious fall on a hike on South Mountain, was the recipient of that honor. Receiving awards for leading the most hikers on a hike were Stan and Cindy Krasucki (38 hikers) on a Mellow hike and Anna Larson and Joyce Stefanick (27 hikers) on a Moderate hike. The Boot Award, which honors a club member for longtime service to the club, went to Kathy Ivesdal.
The “unofficial” awards included the “Hello My Name Is” Award which went to Mike Josephson, who lost his name badge that was found by another hiker and then lost again! The Pathfinder Award was given to Steve and Mary Martz who continue to find new and interesting trails for the club to experience. Joan Davies received the True Grit Award for accomplishing a very challenging hike, while Anita Baker was honored with the Courage Award for having the fortitude to lead her first hike this year.
The hiking season for the Sun Lakes Hiking Club is November through April. The official scheduled hikes are described on the club website, meetup.com/sun-lakes-hiking-club. Even though the season has come to a close, hiking continues unofficially on some mornings during the summer months. If you are interested in summer hiking, please contact Stu Frost by emailing him at [email protected].