Glen Carter Memorial Crew Chief Award
This award is a distinguished commemorative recognition with two key purposes.
Firstly, by virtue of its name, it serves as an enduring tribute to Glen Carter, the founder of our club and its first President/Crew Chief.
Secondly, it is a means to honor club members who have demonstrated exceptional contributions and commitment to the advancement of the club.
The Crew Chief Award is traditionally presented at the club's annual Hall of Fame Induction Celebration. Following the passing of Glen Carter in 2024, this esteemed award was renamed the Glen Carter Memorial Crew Chief Award. Pictured here is the newly designed award, which was presented to Jeff Ing.
Since 2008, the Glen Carter Crew Chief Award has been awarded to the following recipients:
2024
2024 Memorial Crew Chief Award - Jeff Ing
Jeff Ing embodies the spirit of selflessness and teamwork, always ready to lend a hand whenever needed. Since joining our club, he has taken every opportunity to contribute, showing unwavering commitment and initiative. Most recently, Jeff has skillfully managed our car shows, further proving his value to our club.
Last year's recipient, Donna Gross, described Jeff in this way, "I have the honor of presenting the prestigious Glen Carter Memorial Crew Chief Award to its newest recipient, Jeff Ing. This award represents the highest recognition within our club and is bestowed upon Jeff, who has demonstrated exceptional dedication, consistently going above and beyond to enhance our organization."
2023
2023 Crew Chief Award - Donna Gross
Donna Gross is a shining example of what it means to be dependable. Her simple yet powerful words, "Sure, no problem. I'll take care of it," are a testament to her commitment to serving others.
Donna's willingness to take on responsibilities extends beyond her primary role as newsletter editor. It stems from a genuine desire to help others and make a positive impact. Club activities such as Hall of Fame celebrations, Dayton 500 watch parties and Board of Director special tasks are all successful because of her willingness to handle whatever is needed.
Her actions speak volumes about her integrity and selflessness. She doesn't seek recognition or praise; her satisfaction comes from knowing she can alleviate someone else's burden or contribute to a collective goal.
2022
2022 Crew Chief Award - Chris Bleistein
Past-president Chris Bleistein has been successful in every area of the club's performance.
Through his relentless efforts, membership nearly doubled. Chris developed an admirable ability to consistently recruit excellent guest speakers for our meetings. With his leadership, club activities and outside events were always well received. His vision for continuous improvement elevated the quality of our annual Hall of Fame event to a higher level.
In accepting the award, Chris exhibited his humility by thanking the numerous members whom he felt were more deserving than he. His hard work and selfless attitude have put our club in an excellent position for a great future.
2021
2021 Crew Chief Award - Art Fehrman
Art Fehrman brings his personal racing experience and his life-long contacts with racing luminaries to the benefit of our club. He continuously demonstrates his creativity and dedication by suggesting club events and successfully organizing them.
Art's ability to tap into his long list of racing-related friends has enabled our club to meet many interesting and talented guest speakers at our meetings.
Art continuously promotes the growth of our club among Villagers and members of the racing community. From flyers to brochures to the upcoming motor racing show, Art extols the existence and the value of our club to everyone. The future of our club looks bright thanks to Art's dedication.
2020
2020 Crew Chief Award - Gerry Greim
Recording Secretary Gerry Greim has been a valuable, long-standing member of our pit crew and is an example of a "behind the scenes" person we rely on constantly to make us look good. She is always there and willing to pitch in and do whatever needs to be done, and done cheerfully.
President Chris Bleistein described her contribution to the club this way, "Without her explicit notes at board meetings and regular meetings, I would be lost. She has coordinated club events, such as pizza night, Daytona 500 watch party, season-end NASCAR party, bus trips, plus many more activities. She has made our banquet a success by doing seating assignments, selling tickets and doing set-up."
2019
2019 Crew Chief Award - Lois Taylor
Lois Taylor repeatedly demonstrates her ability to organize many aspects of club activities.
From taking control of club membership when the position of coordinator opened unexpectedly, to scheduling and coordinating trips to local tracks, Lois remains calm, even when things don’t go as planned.
Lois has the skills to completely manage all the details necessary, while doing so with a pleasant, soft-spoken demeanor. She has stepped to the plate for the club and has used her skills to help members enjoy the benefits of our club.
2018
2018 Crew Chief Award - John Angiolo
Hospitality Coordinator John Angiolo brings a tremendous amount of dedication and drive to any task that he takes on. And he has taken on a number of tasks at the last minute – ones that no one else seemed to want.
The Pit Crew is fortunate to have John included in its ranks because it’s hard to imagine having a better team player and contributor to the cause.
John also promotes the club continuously. On most any race night at many tracks – local short tracks, Daytona International Speedway, even Wisconsin short tracks – you will likely see yellow shirts in the stands. One of those shirts typically is worn by our award recipient, John Angiolo.
2017
2017 Crew Chief Award - Janine Woodsford
Janine Woodsford is one of the hardest working members of our pit crew, a fantastic colleague who consistently brings energy, dedication and drive to any project she takes on.
The success over the past few years of the annual Hall of Fame event is testimony to her organizational skills and her ability to adjust to minor setbacks in a way that just keeps things running smoothly.
Glen referred to Janine as "our resident task master, the one we all count on for assurance that things will get done and get done right."
2016
2016 Crew Chief Award - Jerry Conkle
Past President Jerry Conkle is a veteran member of our Pit Crew and has actively participated in so many of our events. In fact, his leadership was demonstrated during his time as our Crew Chief from 2013-2016. The hard-working Conkle remains on our Pit Crew.
In presenting the award, Glen recalled Jerry’s knowledge of Indy 500 history that he shared with us a few years ago. Carter also noted his entertaining "standup comedy" that he brought to our meetings during his tenure as Crew Chief.
2015
2015 Crew Chief Award - Bob and Camille Sherman
Membership Coordinators, Bob and Camille Sherman, have been valuable, long-standing members of our Pit Crew and they have worked hard to manage our membership records, collect our dues and ensure that our guest speakers are properly recognized. They are an example of those "behind the scenes" people who we rely on constantly to make us look good.
Glen stated that "we're honoring a pair of dedicated members who have quietly and competently taken care of so many of the details that make our events run smoothly."
2014
2014 Crew Chief Award - Mike Anderson
Webmaster Mike Anderson has made substantial contributions to the club's continued success, most notably his development and operation of our critically acclaimed website. Mike also coordinates the sending of emails to members from all of the club officers.
In presenting the award, Glen acknowledged Mike's consistent behind-the-scenes support at meetings, as well as his willingness and ability to stand in to virtually any spot as needed.
"This award recognizes individuals who have stepped to the plate for us and who have used their talents to help The Villages Motor Racing Fan Club become a truly well-respected organization in the Florida racing community," Carter commented, "and that describes Mike Anderson to a tee."
2013
2013 Crew Chief Award - Tom Horrmann
Treasurer and Official Photographer Tom Horrmann is one of the solid "behind-the-scenes" people that we have relied on through the years to get things done. He's always there, always willing to pitch in and do what needs to be done, and on top of that, does a steady job of keeping our finances in order.
Many of our newer members know him as the guy who "harasses" them to get their picture taken for their moment of fame in our newsletter.
2012
2012 Crew Chief Award - Silky Meegan
Corresponding Secretary Silky Meegan is consistently working toward serving the best interests of our group in a way that has helped us establish ourselves as one of the premier clubs in The Villages.
Silky can be called a "quiet organizer," "a go-to person for results," or "a person who just gets things done." From assuming responsibility for issuing thank you letters to our speakers, to crafting our monthly Recreation News announcements, to diligently managing the Prediction Row coordination, she is one of those people we just naturally turn to when we need help ... and she's always ready to come through cheerfully!
2011
2011 Crew Chief Award - Mike Touchette
In describing Vice President Mike Touchette's contributions to the club, Glen characterized him as "someone who is consistently working behind the scenes to make sure our meetings and on-site events maintain the air of professionalism that has become our hallmark as a club."
In addition to extolling Mike's skills in the logistical arena, Glen pointed out his "ability to step in and run meetings when our president is off somewhere on one of his frequent trips, and he's also seen at the right hand of our Special Events Coordinator making sure that trips and activities go as planned, or if they don't go as planned, to be sure that we have workarounds that make problems go unnoticed by most of us."
2010
2010 Crew Chief Award - Wayne Nolan
One of the major features of our club is the simple fact that members have a unified identity. This identity is not only as a bunch of motorsports fans, but more importantly we're the "folks in the yellow shirts!" That's our brand when we go to a race, and many times we've heard from drivers, promoters, sports writers and other race fans that, "Hey, we saw you guys in the yellow shirts!"
But it didn't just happen that we all just accidentally decided to wear yellow. It happened through the on-going behind-the-scenes coordination of our club apparel program, and through the quiet dedication of Crew Uniform Manager Wayne Nolan.
Wayne is always on the look-out for items that continue to promote our identity, and he tirelessly maintains the inventory, processes orders and ensures that everyone can get what they need. He even finds time to serve us as "Mr. Golf," arranging and administering the golf tournaments that many of us look forward to each year. Beyond all that, for the past few years he's even served with his wife Barbara as one of the organizers of our annual Hall of Fame events.
In presenting the award to Wayne, Glen commented, "I really don't think you can find a better team player and contributor to the cause than Wayne Nolan."
2009
2009 Crew Chief Award - Wendy Touchette
When presenting the award to Special Events Coordinator Wendy Touchette, Glen said, "It's been quite an experience to watch someone with these organizational skills take command of details in a way that allowed us to look so good as a club.
"Organized is just one of the words that describe her approach to things ... others are unflappable, especially when things don't go as we planned; thorough, making sure all the little stuff comes together; understanding, when some of us fumble the ball on the assignments she gives us.
"We've accomplished so much during three short years, and I think all of you would agree with me that without her, our trips and events would have been sort of chaotic."
2008
2008 Crew Chief Award - Gerry Hafer
2007 Hall of Fame Inductee and Executive Editorial Manager of The Villages Daily Sun Larry Croom presented the first Glen Carter Crew Chief Award to Gerry Hafer, club Vice President and Media Relations Representative.
In presenting the award, Croom cited the club's outstanding monthly newsletter, calling it "one of the best I've ever seen." Croom was asked to make the presentation because of his extensive, 12-year background in reporting on racing-related activities.
In accepting the award, Hafer cited the spirit of the club's members and the fact that their cooperation and participation provides a wealth of material for a newsletter.