ELLEN WHITE W1YL AWARD

West Central Florida Section Amateur Radio Operator of the Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PURPOSE OF THE ELLEN WHITE W1YL AWARD

To recognize the radio amateur who has made the most significant contributions to amateur radio in the West Central Florida Section for the year of the nomination.

The West Central Florida Group, owners and operators of the NI4CE Repeater System, sponsor one year of ARRL membership for the recipient of the Ellen White W1YL Award.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section thanks the West Central Florida Group for their sponsorship of one year of ARRL membership for the recipient of the Ellen White W1YL Award.

RECIPIENTS OF THE ELLEN WHITE W1YL AWARD

2023 – Michael Drake WA1RYQ – AEC Pinellas County ARES/ACS and Dan Noah WX4DAN – WCM NWSFO Ruskin.

2022 – Tom Chance K9XV – ARRL Emergency Coordinator, Charlotte County ARES and Chuck Johnston W4CWJ, Assistant Section Manager for Rural Communities.

2021 – Sanford Wyatt KM4WXX – Assistant Section Manager, Net Manager – Section ARES and Information Net VHF/UHF, and Assistant Net Manager of the Eagle Net.

2020 – Randy Payne K4EZM – Assistant Section Manager, Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator, and Emergency Coordinator for Highlands County ARES.

2019 – Dave Rockwell W4PXE – Net Manager of the Eagle Net, ARRL Technical Specialist, and active in Pinellas County ACS/ARES.

2018 – Mike Breese W2YS – Assistant Section Manager and Amateur Radio coordinator of the Bike MS Citrus Tour.

2017 – Woody Furman KJ4KSG, SK – Assistant Net Manager of the Eagle Net.

2016 – Ellen White W1YL, SK – Former ARRL Section Manager and retired from ARRL HQ – The award’s namesake.

NOMINATIONS AND SELECTION PROCESS FOR THE ELLEN WHITE W1YL AWARD:

  1. Nominations are open for the Ellen White W1YL Award on September 1 through October 31 of each year and are accepted via the Contact and Information Form on the Section website.
  2. Then the West Central Florida Section Manager and his cabinet select the recipient from the nominations submitted on the Section website.
  3. The award is presented to the recipient at the ARRL forum at the Tampa Bay Hamfest, which is serves as the ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention each year.

HISTORY OF THE ELLEN WHITE W1YL AWARD

The award was proposed by Assistant Section Manager Biff Crane K4LAW in early 2016.  Biff proposed the idea that there should be an award to recognize an amateur radio operator each year that had made the most significant contributions to amateur radio for that year.  Biff proposed that the award should be called “The White Award” in honor of Ellen White W1YL, who had been Section Communications Manager in the San Diego Section in the early 1950’s and had worked at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, CT, in the DXCC bureau and in several other positions for over 20 years, and that she should be the first recipient.  On December 9, 2016, Darrell Davis KT4WX, the Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section at the time, presented Ellen White W1YL, with the 1st White Award at the ARRL table, as she could not be present for the ARRL forum later in the day.  On December 11, 2021, the award was renamed the “Ellen White W1YL Award”.  On Saturday November 5, 2022, Ellen White W1YL became a Silent Key.  The ARRL News had a very extensive article about the life of White and her passing which can be found at http://www.arrl.org/news/ellen-white-w1yl-silent-key-devoted-lifetime-to-amateur-radio-and-arrl.