The Marcotte Award Creation (by Gordon Rittmeyer 1/27/18)
It was sometime in the late seventies, when we were faced with many people who enjoyed camping in tents over the weekend. The tents were pitched in back of the clubhouse and on many weekends there was no room for more tents and the heads and showers were very crowded. I knew that we had a lot of land where the shelter house is now and that it could be used for camping, except that it was a long walk to the heads and showers and there was no central gathering place for meals and getting together. Some people, including Ed and Doris Marcotte, started planning how we could address the situation. Together we designed the present setup and Ed, being an engineer, came up with the design and agreed to lead the effort. The club approved the idea and Ed and Doris got on the job of making it happen. They did most of the heavy lifting, including the detailed design, ordering materials, organizing work parties, hiring contractors for items the club members couldn’t handle and keeping track of budgets and finances. They also were up at the club every weekend and more doing the actual work and supervising the work parties.
The whole thing was a great success and the club was deeply indebted to both Doris and Ed. As an officer of the club, I was determined to recognize their effort, so I got the club, without the Marcotte’s knowledge, to approve establishing an award in their honor with them being the first recipients. We presented it at the next winter meeting and I think they were very surprised and grateful.
For a great first hand account of the construction of the shelter house and the remodeling of the clubhouse, written by Ed and Doris Marcotte, click on the link below. We also have listed all past Marcotte Award recipients.
- History of Shelterhouse Construction and Clubhouse Remodeling
- Award Recipients