The Legenda Aurea Service Award & Scholarship

The Legenda Aurea, Latin for "the golden legend," is the service award presented by HHRW to a chapter member who has provided outstanding service to Hearts Through History Romance Writers and who has become a legend among us.

This year's recipient took over the job she held for the past three years during a very precarious time for our chapter. The treasurer at the time had stopped making contact with anyone on the on the board and the board was forced to remove her from her position and appoint another person to the job. The books, while not in dire straights, were on the brink of being so. In addition, a lapse of oversight put the chapter in danger of losing its charter The newly formed board, with this year's recipient taking over as treasurer, went to work to set the situation straight. However, it was the recipient who lead the charge in getting the most critical problems fixed.

As anyone who has balanced a checkbook knows, keeping the numbers in harmony is not always easy, especially with so many items in the mix. Between membership payments, Campus workshop payments (often two or more classes at a time), AGM expenses, and the Romance Through the Ages contest, it wouldn't be hard to confuse things. However, as the person who nominated her said, “she kept payments straight, always gave accurate and timely reports and was able to institute changes to make the job a bit easier for future treasurers.”

Those changes included purchasing and setting up a bookkeeping program which makes it much easier to not only keep the books, but to pass the job on to another person. She also encouraged the chapter to set up an 'off-site' record storage account, so our records are saved in one spot, not scattered throughout the computers of various board members.

I know that my job as president was made much easier by knowing that our financial books were in such capable hands. Like most volunteers, she has a family, a full-time job and a writing career she is trying launch. Yet, she kept our books in excellent shaped and did her job above and beyond what would normally be expected of a treasurer.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the 2009 recipient of the Legenda Aurea, Vicki Law.

Melinda Porter, President

The President's Service Award

At the discretion of the standing President of HHRW, the President's Service Award may be conferred upon any member who has contributed outstanding service to the chapter during the president's term of office.

We have a lot of wonderful volunteers for Hearts Through History. People with full-time jobs, families, writing careers and other volunteer commitments still find time to help make HHRW the great chapter it is. I have to say, I do a poor job at keeping track of everything everyone does. Therefore, I'm liable to forget some of the things the recipient of this award has done for us in the past.

Time and again, she has stepped forward to help wherever needed. She has offered advice and suggestions to improve our chapter. She has taken the initiative several times to start up new programs for the benefit of HHRW.

She has been an instructor for our Campus. She often offers answers to members' craft and historical questions on the General Loop. When we needed someone to moderate our critique group, she stepped forward. When we needed a newsletter chairwoman, she stepped forward.

She has been a genuine asset to Hearts Through History in general and the Board of Directors in particular. She recently had to give up her position as newsletter editor, due to the impending arrival of her third child. But not before entering The Bard's Scroll the 2009 RWA Newsletter contest, where it took second place.

It is, therefore, with great pleasure that I present to the 2009 President's Service Award to Michelle Inglesby, writing as Eliza Knight.

Melinda Porter, President