Nonprofit Recreation Northwest announced the winners of its first annual Great Outdoors Awards. Recreation Northwest will recognize the winners, listed below, at an awards dinner and fundraiser from 5 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, October 12 at Bellingham Technical College.
The event is an evolution of the organization’s annual Breakfast of Champions fall fundraiser, Recreation Northwest executive director Todd Elsworth explained in a press release.
"For the past three years, Recreation Northwest has 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," he said. "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 those people and their colleagues who work and play in the outdoors."
Recreation Northwest is a Bellingham-based nonprofit that advocates for outdoor recreation. Learn more at recreationnorthwest.org
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
Radical Roots MTB, Angi Weston
GeoCaching.com, Bryan Roth
Eddyline Kayaks, Tom Remsing
Freehub Magazine / Craft MTB, Brandon Watts
Prime Sports Institute, Kerry Gustafson and Erica Quam
Whatcom Events, Anna Rankin
2019 Nominees
Laurie Benson, Washington State Department of Natural Resources
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