fog·dog (fôgˈdôgˌ, -dŏgˌ, fŏgˈ-) noun - a bright spot sometimes seen at the horizon as a fog starts to dissipate; A bright or clear spot that appears in breaking fog. Origin: From the fact that it accompanies fog as a dog accompanies its owner.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Nominees for the 2011 FOG DOG AWARD are listed (alphabetically) below. Voting will take place via email: clairezepeda@gmail.com and of course is completely confidential. The winner will be announced at our January awards dinner.
Which of these most worthy candiates best exemplifies our Fog Dog - a beacon, a shining light, making a unique and nautical contribution to ASI?
Heidi Dzendzel
I seriously recommend Heidi Dzendzel for this special award. She has taken the lead w/ Stony Creek for years now, and has made that program a great success. She should be recognized for her dedication to ASI.
Joe Jaeger
I would like to nominate Joe Jaeger. His spirit of contribution and his willingness to teach what he knows has touched me on numerous occasions. What strikes me most is his offering to share his knowledge, without being approached for it. Joe has contributed much of his time to help in essentially every aspect of the club: teaching those around him; maintaining the boats; and duties of governance. He is inspiring.
Trudy Morse
I nominate Trudy Morse. Level 1 written tester. Level 2 teaching, chart checking, and behind the scenes helping with educational materials. Level 4 boat manuals, chart checking, lottery, and behind the scenes helping with educational materials. BVI specialist!
John Tiley
I became aware of John's enthusiastic leadership effectiveness this past season with his honing in on our newest members. When I started joining in on the Tuesday group/practice sails around mid-season, my understanding was that he had become an integral, regular attendee, but that's just the scenario for what led to the following:
In getting to know students who were participating in the group sails, he started getting more interested as to how many students we had, how to help them get rated, how many we retained a 2nd year, what roadblocks were preventing rating and wanting them to feel more included in the Club. This triggered his initiative to get a list of students which he emailed to make contact/offer direction. When he found some were "feeling adrift," the emails really started flying as he became a leader in getting other rated members involved to plan for next season's greater outreach.
Meanwhile, as the group sailing days were winding down, came his suggestion, "let's have an end-of-season party!" What started out as something basic & simple with just the Tuesday practice group, evolved to include all the practice groups.... shortly becoming something ASI had never seen before as the whole Club was invited to a Fall celebration of our newest members. This past October, John, in his pirate wig & attire, having pulled together a goodie bag for each student in attendance, having also teamed up with the racers for an all-out regatta, absolved the students from having to "walk the plank" if only they vowed to give back to next year's students with mentoring or giving practice sails. (In the midst of the festivities, he was planting the seed for greater involvement.) Yes, others helped make that day the enjoyment it was, but it was John's idea & enthusiastic creativity which was pervasive throughout that successful event.
Finally, due to a growing realization that mentoring for the L1 rating may well be valuable on an official basis, and with knowing how he had spontaneously become the unofficial mentor lead, John, thankfully, agreed to officially take on the new position next season - that of L1 Mentor Coordinator....or, as he prefers, coach.
I believe John deserves this year's Fog Dog award as he tackled & addressed a problem often discussed in the Club - that of retaining members, especially our newest ones, to not only get rated, but to feel more a part of the Club. His actions this past season, along with the anticipation now that he's taken on the new position have & will put a spotlight on a core issue in the Club.
Jack Townsend
Jack Townsend’s contributions need no description. His dedication to maintenance, teaching, and his patience with us as students are without equal. He is a friend, and a fellow sailor, and an extraordinary teacher (in all aspects of sailing). He improves our organization in so many ways. He appears, to me, to be the most consummate sailor, and is so willing to share with us who are trying to learn.
Jack Townsend has spent uncountable hours repairing boats, running to the store for parts and teaching others at the same time that they may do the same as they progress. He is unrelentingly patient with all. When he is not repairing he can be seen teaching, sailing, encouraging and calm at the same time.
I would like to nominate Jack Townsend for the Fog Dog Award. There are many people in ASI that deserve an award because of their dedication to teaching sailing, maintaining our boats, and keeping ASI running as smooth as it does, so that makes it hard to choose just one person. I really feel that without Jack working on the keel boats, we wouldn't have a boat in Lake Saint Clair at all. Captains know, Jack is never too busy to answer questions, help you get a job done, or teach you why it is important to do something a certain way. Jack took it upon himself to drain and clean the fuel tanks on Interlude, Overture, and VIII, after Interlude was found to have sludge in the tank, causing her to stall. He plans on doing the same on Manitou this spring. I will tell you this was a very hard and time consuming job. He finished Interlude quickly to keep her in service which allowed timeshares to continue. Two of the keel boats had to have their muffler system fixed, which took them out of service also. Jack immediately took on the job and took the system apart, finding the problem and with the help of Gary Hintz got the boats running again. These were major jobs, critical to the safety of ASI members and club finances.
He instills confidence by teaching in the most pleasant manner. Jack is there by himself many times until late in the night finishing a job, to make sure it is ready for class the next day, even sleeping on the boat because he was working so late. | 
Racing is a fun way for new or experienced skippers to refine their sailing skills. One learns sailing by doing it; having another boat sailing nearby at your performance level is a great teacher. You don’t have to get competitive about racing to gain confidence in your ability on the helm.