Irv Rosenthal Award, Bill Ferguson Award, Supplier of the Year Award, Jerry Martin Journalism Award

Oak Park, IL, November 24, 2008: The Marine Retailers Association of America (MRAA) gathered this week in Las Vegas, Nevada for their annual convention and expo. Approximately 400 members and guests were in attendance at the Rio Grand Convention Center.

Many companies have been most generous to MRAA, sponsoring many events during the week including Breaks, Breakfasts, Luncheons and Receptions. Generous sponsors of these events include BRP, Inc., Brunswick, Spader 20 Groups, CNA Insurance, MasterCraft Boat Company, Volvo Penta, GE Capital Solutions, Norman-Spencer Agency, Manheim, Crownline Boats, Bennington Marine, ADP Lightspeed, Channel Blade, DockMaster, Genmar Holdings, Marine Web Services, Monster Tower, Port Harbor Marine, Westland, Yamaha Motor Corp, Smokercraft and Starcraft.

For the past 25 years special awards have been given at this convention. Four awards were presented at a crowded luncheon on November 18th. MRAA’s most prestigious award, the Irv Rosenthal Award, is presented annually to someone in the industry who fosters the mission and goals of the association. It was established in honor of Irv Rosenthal who was the owner of Transfer Monogram. He was very instrumental in the formation of MRAA in the early 1970s. It is given annually to someone in the industry who fosters the mission and goals of MRAA. Ed Lofgren presented the award to Gary Briggs, Wayzata Marine, Wayzata, MN. Briggs has given 30 years of service to MRAA.

The second award, the Bill Ferguson Award, was named after the first executive director of MRAA, Bill Ferguson, of Houston, Texas. Bill was the executive director of Boating Trades Association of Texas. He served as the first paid executive director of MRAA. This award is given annually in his honor to a local, state or regional MTA that exhibits outstanding support for its membership. This year the award was presented to Marine Industries Association of South Florida. Accepting the award from Dave Foulkrod was Steve Baum, Board member of MIASF.

The third award, Supplier of the Year Award, is presented annually to a supplier or manufacturer that provides extra support to MRAA. They “go the extra mile”! This year’s recipients are Paul Norman and Byron Spencer, Norman Spencer Agency, Inc. The award was presented by Alan Bohling. Norman-Spencer has worked with MRAA for 20 years to provide business insurance services for dealers.

The Jerry Martin Journalism Award, the fourth award presented at the luncheon, is named in honor of Jerry Martin, a public relations icon and long time industry activist. He was among the founders of the Marine Retailers Association of America and served as director of development for many years. Jerry’s passion was to see dealers receive proper status in the recreational boating industry; he worked tirelessly toward this end. Jerry was well connected to all of the industry’s communications networks and continually bombarded them with dealer news. The award, presented by Jim Browning, was given to Boat & Motor Dealer Magazine. Boat & Motor Dealer Magazine is celebrating its 50th anniversary of providing news featuring marine dealers.