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VMAPA Hall Of Fame
Alumni Association:
The month of December is going to fly by with all the holiday craziness, and before you know it, January 1st will be here. Besides being the day we all make our New Year’s resolutions, January 1st also marks the first day that 2023 Hall of Fame (HOF) nominations can be submitted. So, before you become stressed with all the holiday craziness, why not take the time to start thinking if there is someone you would like to nominate for 2023, and start to develop your plan? Remember… the nomination period only runs from January 1st through February 15th .
You may remember, last year was the first year of a major overhaul to the HOF nomination process. While we were fairly pleased with the final process, we also knew that once it was rolled out, areas in need of improvement would become apparent. One of the responsibilities of the Hall of Fame Committee (HOFC) is to continually review the nomination process, and when necessary make the appropriate changes. Our goal is to help make it as easy as possible for you. In an effort to simplify the process, the following changes have been made for 2023:
1. Improved Instructions to make it easier to prepare your nomination application.
2. A more user friendly application thanks to the feedback from our 2022 Nominators and the revisions made by our HOF Technical Guru, Mike Eng.
3. Equal number of candidates possible on the ballot for Contemporary and Legacy categories – minimum requirement is now 2 with a maximum of 10 nominees for each category, allowing more Legacy nominees to be considered.
4. Standardized voting outcomes for Contemporary and Legacy categories – All candidates, regardless of category, selected for the ballot will be inducted if they achieve a minimum of 60% of the vote.
5. The wait time of one year before re-submittal of a nominee that was dropped from the 3-year consideration pool has been eliminated.
The number one question that kept surfacing during the 2022 HOF process was, “Why can only 2 Legacy candidates be inducted each year?” We were reminded that the early success of the SCV organization was due to the efforts of many individuals that worked endless hours to make Gail Royer’s dream of a World Class Championship Corps a reality. For several decades, it was the Booster Club, marching members and other volunteers working behind the scenes to provide the financial support and exceptional effort needed to field the corps. A tremendous amount of fundraising was required before bingo was legalized. Once the bingo game was started, an entirely new level of expertise and volunteers were required to ensure bingo would not only survive, but flourish. It took people with vision, leadership and drive to continue the growth and success of the SCV organization for what will soon be 56 years.
There are many individuals and couples that should be acknowledged for their contributions and impact during these decades. We agree as time goes by, the likelihood of these individuals and couples being nominated will significantly decrease, and ultimately, may be forgotten. Those of us who were lucky (and old) enough to have marched in the Corps during the early years, know the importance these efforts made to our growth and continued success. We all share the responsibility to ensure we acknowledge the outstanding contributors of each decade and honor their significance in the Corps’ history by creating the opportunity for them to be considered for induction into the VMAPA Hall of Fame.
The fact of the matter is that there are many VMAPA members worthy of consideration, whether it be as a Contemporary or Legacy nominee. All that needs to happen is that someone, like you, is willing to do the work to nominate them.
We are often asked by VMAPA members, as well as DCI members, why certain individuals aren’t already in our Hall of Fame? The answer is usually because no one has nominated them. The HOFC decided to compile and maintain such a list along with the person who asked the question as a resource for future nominators. We believe that if asked, every person who has been associated with VMAPA would be able to name at least 2 people they think should be inducted. Can you?
You don’t have to take on the job of writing a nomination application all by yourself. If you have someone you would like to nominate, and aren’t quite sure how to go about it, email us at hof@scvanguard.org. The HOFC is available to answer questions and assist your understanding of the nomination process. Nominators are advised to check with the HOFC before starting the nomination process to see if their nominee has already been nominated. With our potential nominee list, we could also provide you with the name and contact information of someone else who agrees with your nominee choice, and may have additional information to include in the nomination.
We are hoping that while reading this article, a few people came to mind who you feel should be in the HOF and that you are inspired to complete a nomination application. While their names are fresh in your mind, please email us at hof@scvanguard.org and we will add them to the list and let you know if they have already been nominated.
Happy Holidays!
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