Since the inception of CopperDog the actual *content* of the final awards banquet has been little more than an afterthought, meaning, people spend so much time planning the race, they forget to plan what needs to be covered at the banquet. So we end up pulling everything together as people are showing up for dinner and hope we don't miss anything. The absolute worse thing that happens is we somehow miss acknowledging volunteers who make important contributions that are at the dinner.
When Meredith asked me to MC the meeting, I actually spent a few hours preparing (the morning of) and coming up with a way to make the TON of material we needed to get through a little more fun and entertaining. God knows these types of events can be dull, dull, dull.
Maybe the fun went a little too far this time or maybe it didn't, fun is in the eye of each guest, but what I really really feel terrible about that I totally overlooked one of the most important people in the room... Heather Maki!
For 5 straight years CopperDog has seriously struggled with doing something with that snow road we install in downtown Calumet for the weekend; the road that blocks access to all of the downtown businesses. We were on the verge of pulling the snow road out Friday nights and moving the finish from the downtown to a trail.
Then Heather Maki came along, started managing the Saturday actives, ran with the Dog House Race concept and suddenly, Saturday's on the snow road started working and growing in popularity every year.
Heather, I'm sorry that I missed acknowledging you at the awards dinner. You are quiet, humble, and totally awesome at what you do. More than anyone (because I lived through all the problem years and could never solve the problem) I appreciate what you do for C-Dog by managing the Saturday Events! Thank you!