2012 Service Award Winners

ED NIEMANN

A DVOA member since 1997, Ed has volunteered countless hours and been a regular on the Start crew for A-meets for a many years. He may never want to hear another beeping clock after his most recent participation on the Start Crew at NAOC. Ed is retiring from his job this year and plans on getting more involved with course setting and event direction, and eagerly awaits 2015 when he can “legally” do Brown. Ed has been married for 17 years this May and lives in Harrisburg.

What do you do as a career?
Catalog and database for a large wholesale operation but I will be retired by the middle of February; 33 years with the company, started driving the delivery truck.

Give us a fact about yourself that DVOA members would be surprised to learn.
I have an electrical engineering degree but have never used it professionally.

When did you start orienteering?
My sisters had been orienteering for a few years before I started, Janet with EMPO and Nancy with Houston. It was the year of the Roundup (Harriman, 1996) and both were attending. We normally only got together for the holidays, they said it would be fun, why don't you come up? I did a yellow course around a pond; great fun and couldn't get lost. I did an orange at Pine Grove a few weeks later and I was hooked....been doing Green ever since.

What is the most rewarding part about being a member of DVOA? Being part of a great group of interesting people that you get to see every week during the season and who care enough about the “institution” to help make each event a success; having an excuse to stay in reasonable shape for my age.

What is your favorite DVOA venue?
The various maps of French Creek (except for the rocky parts) were probably my favorites until we discovered the Water Gap/PEEC area- I was amazed by the beauty and relative “cleanliness” of the terrain we used at that first major event we held there.

What are some highlights from your orienteering career?
The events I remember most are those where the whole family was able to get together.....the Roundup, APOC in Calgary/Edmonton, the Laramie/Colorado Springs events, BAOC-Northstar, the Western PA A-meet. I always love going to West Point; it's rugged terrain and I understand contours better than subtle flats.

What are your hobbies outside of orienteering?
We did a lot of small boat sailing in our formative years; not much since then. I'd like to get back into that a little.

DAN and ZAC BARKER

Dan and Zac joined DVOA in 2006 and live in Turnersville, NJ. Through their tireless
volunteer efforts over the years, they have earned the reputation of being people you can always depend on. Zac won the Novice Course Setter Award this year as well as the Under M-20 DVOA Champion Award. Dan is on the DVOA board. He is married to Cynthia, and Zac, their only child, is “more than enough.”

What do you do as a career?
Dan: I am a Mechanical Engineer for The Boeing Company, where I design and test ground support equipment for the tandem rotor Chinook helicopter.
Zac:
High School Senior

Give us a fact about yourself that DVOA members would be surprised to learn.
Dan: I have solo (no aid stations) in-line speed skated over 100 miles in a little over 10 hours.
Zac:
I am a fourth degree black belt in Okinawan Kenpo Karate.

When did you start orienteering?
Dan: My first course was at a national meet in Fort Story Virginia in 1976. I ran the white course, finishing fifth (Ithink). Zac: My first course was October 2005 at Iron Hill at the age of 9 (group of 2 with my dad). We finished the Orange course in 100 minutes 45 seconds.

How did you discover DVOA? Zac and I loved to hike through the woods. I figured he would like orienteering. So I started searching the web for orienteering terms and people I knew from my SIOC days. A search for Pat Dunlavey turned up information about his mapping exploits and business. Turns out he (and Eric Weyman) produced several maps for DVOA. Then I searched for DVOA and here we are.

What is the most rewarding part about being a member of DVOA? The club environment gives us a chance to teach Zac the value of volunteering for the benefit of the group. We also have made many good friends that have similar values to ours.

What is your favorite DVOA venue?
Dan: Stuckey Pond or Spackman Creek. Zac: Valley Forge – Fatlands

What are some highlights or “bests” from your orienteering career?
Dan: My SIOC club team won the 1976 Intercollegiate championship and I won first place individually.
Zac: Representing the U.S. at JWOC, Several U.S. Championships at various age levels, Reigning U.S. Night O Champion M-20.

What are your O goals for 2014?
Dan
: I want to get my orienteering race pace down below 10 min/K for Blue courses.
Zac: JWOC appearance with a top 50 in the Long.

What are your hobbies outside of orienteering?
Dan: In-Line Speed Skating.
Zac:
Mixed Martial Arts, Computer Graphics –anime and games, Geology