GLSPS Awards Program 2012
This Committee and Award Program was formed to provide the GLSPS
to have a way to recognize the dynamic people in the local diving
community.
Purpose: As a voice in the Midwest preservation and diving community,
the GLSPS seeks to acknowledge and express their gratitude to
individuals, organizations, and businesses who have contributed to the
improvement of our environment and exemplify GLSPS ideals and ethics. To
honor these contributors GLSPS has created three categories of awards
differing in what contributions they acknowledge and the process for
nominating recipients for the award.
GLSPS Appreciation Award can be awarded to any non-board member
individual, organization, or business for longstanding support of the
mission, goals, and projects of GLSPS. Nomination can be made by any
current GLSPS member.
Dive Community Contribution Award can be awarded to any individual,
organization, or business for exceptional service to the dive community
or for going beyond the call of duty to do something that benefits the
upper Midwest scuba diving community. Nomination can be made by any
member of the community.
Special Acknowledgment Award can be awarded to any individual,
organization, or business who has made exceptional contributions to the
upper Midwest preservation, history, or dive community. Nomination can
be made by any GLSPS Board Member, but suggestions can be made through
the GLSPS Board of Directors.
All nominations must be submitted by December 31 of each year. Winners
will be announced during the Dinner Banquet held after the UMSAT Show.
The 2012 GLSPS Award Winners
Congratulations to the Three Award Winners:
GLSPS Appreciation Award: Sharon Provost
Sharon Provost has been a long time icon of the local sport and commercial diving community. She was the business manager behind Vets Salvage Company and owner and manager of a successful dive shop Scuba Outlet Store which was the predecessor to Scuba Dive and Travel. Sharon and her late husband Jerry Provost started SOS to keep Scuba Diving affordable to the middle income diver.
To GLSPS Sharon is one of our founders and original board members. From the inception of GLSPS Sharon and Jerry were on board and contributed their experience and expertise to lengthy discussions through many meetings to create the foundation and set the direction of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society. Both felt diving had been good to them and wanted to give back to the sport they loved. Sharon added an important and respected business person and woman's perspective to the discussions. When GLSPS officially formed in 1996 Sharon wrote the first newsletter and continued as our newsletter editor for fifteen years, long after she retired from the board of directors. Last year Sharon retired from being the GLSPS newsletter editor to pursue a change in career.
Quietly and behind the scenes Sharon has contributed to the formation and success of GLSPS for fifteen years. For her selfless dedication and service to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society the Board of Directors graciously recognizes and honors Sharon Provost and her worthy contributions.
Dive Community Award: Scott and Tracy Wemyss of Air Down There Scuba
Scott, Tracy Wemyss and Air Down There SCUBA : Dive Community Contribution Award
Following their passion, Scott and Tracy Wemyss opened Air Down There SCUBA in 2002. Since then they have made it their mission to give back to the local diving community through a variety of projects. This includes, various clean-up dives, installing a Lake Mine mooring buoy and supporting several charitable organizations, such as the GLSPS, through donations and manpower. The store, with cooperation from local divers, have made repairs to the Square Lake-Golden Acres platforms, replaced guidelines and installed buoys and fish cribs. Air Down There SCUBA is the recipient of the PADI Education, Environmental Achievement and Community Involvement Awards.
Prior to opening Air Down There SCUBA, Scott worked in retail mall operations and as a manufacturer representative for a telecom company. Scott continues to work part-time as a volunteer Firefighter/EMT for the City of Roseville.
Tracy Wemyss served the State of Minnesota Supreme Courts as a project manager and was an implementation manager for a medical software company.
GLSPS Special Acknowledgement Award: Scott Anfinson
Scott Anfinson came to the Minnesota Historical Society in 1988 as a National Register Archeologist in the State Historic Preservation Office. Part of his job was to create a National Register program for the shipwrecks of Minnesota in response to the National Shipwreck Act of 1987. Although Scott's background was in the study of the Plains Indians, he adapted to his new responsibility meeting , recruiting, and contracting knowledgeable local experts and nationally known shipwreck archeologists to build the Minnesota National Register program for shipwrecks. He coauthored the National Register's Multiple Property Documentation Form with Pat Labadie and Brina Agranat, which is the baseline document that describes the historic context in which ships in Minnesota waters evolved. This document is used to determine the historic significance our shipwrecks to that context.
But Scott's influence did not stop at his office doors. Through presentations and working with local divers Scott worked to instill an appreciation of our underwater historic sites. Most importantly Scott has been open minded and willing to work with GLSPS from the start to implement experimental programs like a shipwreck preservation project on the Samuel Ely in Two Harbors, our numerous Put-It-Back projects, and our National Register Nomination program. It was Scott, who in a 1993 Gales of November presentation announced that he favored the idea of repairing damage done to Samuel Ely during the commercial repair of the Two Harbors break wall. It was his affirmation of this bizarre concept of fixing a shipwreck that led the founders of GLSPS to complete the Ely project then continue on to build the Society.
When GLSPS wanted to add the newly found shipwreck Benjamin Noble to the National Register he worked with us to develop an approach that allowed a non-profit to share in the unfunded work, using an intern from his office and divers from GLSPS to complete the nomination. GLSPS became the first non-profit to put a shipwreck on the National Register. Since our 2006 program start GLSPS continues to support nominations and in March will have its fifth shipwreck nominated to National Register of Historic Places. Though Scott has now moved from SHPO to the State Archeologist Office he continues to encourage and support our work and keeps us informed on state programs that we can use to fulfill our mission. This cooperation between professionals and volunteers instills a sense of stewardship in the diving community and has contributed to building a Great Lakes shipwreck diver ethic second to none in the world.
In honor of the work he has done and his willingness to work with our society to develop new approaches to preserve our shipwrecks, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society expresses its sincere appreciation through this Special Acknowledgement Award.