Congratulations, Jack Longacre Award Winner Jean Trousdale

Congratultions, Mother Merc Jean Trousdale on winning the Jack Longacre Award during club’s 2011 convention in Ohio.

She was nominated by three people (the process is secret and only the club president knows the names and counts the votes). Here are their nominations.

It is my great pleasure and honor to nominate Jean Trousdale for the Jack Longacre Award. I cannot imagine how our club would exist without Jean. Her dedication to the club and highpointing in general is unmatched.

I got to know Jean at the first convention I attended (IL03) as most first timers do as Mother Merc. Throughout my years with the club and my years on the board I am proud to say that I have come to call Jean a good friend.

Without Jean, so many things we take for advantage in this club would never happen. I learned how valuable Jean is when she took the job of Treasurer for NJ09. She attacked her duties and went well beyond the call to duty.

Her management of the Merc is outstanding and it is a 365 day a year job. To Jean it is a labor of love, as is everything she does for this club.

So without hesitation, reservation, or qualification, I nominate Jean Trousdale for the Jack Longacre award, a honor which is long overdue.

and

Jean B. Trousdale has been nominated for the Jack Longacre Award.
Jean has been a member of the Highpointers Club since 1995, and has attained 45 state highpoints.
Jean has performed an incredible amount of work for the Club in the past fifteen years. Her service began in the late 1990’s helping Jack Longacre host his convention. She has assisted in some fashion at all conventions since then. She has routinely volunteered to be the point person for registration at recent conventions, a sizeable task indeed.

She created the Highpointers Club Mercantile from scratch, and now annually sells thousands of dollars worth of highpointing gear, clothing, books, badges and pins, etc. to Highpointers all over the world. She keeps all the records, and brings loads of material to each convention. She is known affectionately as “Mother Merc”.
She organized the OK 2002 convention, a throwback to the old days of simple convention gatherings around a campfire. She, along with Gary White and several others, was instrumental in getting Jack Longacre to and from his last convention, making special arrangements for his transportation and care. She has also worked behind the scenes at Jack’s Glade in Missouri.

Jean epitomizes the phrase “sustained exceptional service to the Highpointers Club.”

and

Jean B. Trousdale has been nominated to receive the Jack Longacre Award. Jean, or “Mother Merc” as she is affectionately known, has served the Highpointers Club in several capacities. The Highpointers Club Mercantile Chairperson being the most visible. Jean has run the Merc since its inception. In this capacity she is responsible for buying merchandise, keeping Merc financial records, and bringing the merchandise to the Highpointers Conventions, which, by the way, is no small task. She also runs the Merc mail order.

In addition to her Mercantile duties, Jean has worked at many Highpointers Conventions, serving in several capacities. She has been the registrar and treasurer for the last few Conventions certainly contributing to their success.
She is always a willing volunteer. Jean has also worked behind the scenes several times. The most notable being her work on Jack’s Glade.

Jean has contributed her time and enthusiasm to the Club for several years. Jean clearly deserves to be recognized with the Jack Longacre Award. An affirmative vote for this award will verify Jean’s contributions to the Club.