At the Convention in September, 2020, Joy Ward and Kermit Yensen were each given the Dorothy (Dot) Donnelly Volunteer Award from USMS.
The Dorothy Donnelly Award is presented annually to a volunteer whose service has contributed to the growth, improvement, or success of U.S. Masters Swimming locally, regionally, and/or nationally.
Joy Ward
Joy Ward is happy about her swimming!
Joy Ward received this award for her contributions to OMS as the Safety Committee chair for the past sixteen years. Joy willingly took on this role and has been the ‘go to’ person for making sure that every meet director has all of the information he/she needs to run a safe meet.
She provides copies of the OMS safety guidelines, incident reports, and safety/no diving signs to use at the meets. She interacts with every meet director and delivers these materials plus safety marshal vests and stopwatches to every meet site. Joy is reliable and follows through to respond to all questions and to haul the Oregon Masters signs and materials home, dry them out, and then transport to the next meet.
Joy played an important role during the 2016 USMS Summer Nationals in Oregon. She helped coordinate and oversee the EMTs and aquatic center staff in reporting medical occurrences and filling out the appropriate forms for documentation.
Joy is an active LMSC Board member and contributes regularly to discussions and evaluation of meets. She is not a person who strives to be in the spotlight but certainly has contributed to keeping meets safe for all participants and the LMSC running smoothly with her long term commitment.
Joy has demonstrated what a volunteer can do for an organization and is very deserving of this USMS recognition.
Kermit Yensen
Kermit Yensen
Kermit has been an Oregon Masters swimmer for many years and was active in the Tualatin Hills Barracudas and more recently Central Oregon Masters.
Kermit has contributed over a period of many years to Oregon Masters. He assumed the Treasurer position in 2013 and continues to fill that position. He prepares a yearly budget for the Board, updates the Board on monthly expenses, and generally keeps the organization on track financially. He played a huge oversight role when Oregon hosted the 2016 Summer Nationals and tracked all income and expenses related to that event. Kermit contributes to Board discussions, takes on other tasks related to the financial health of our organization, and communicates with the national office when necessary.
This past year with the changing climate and proposed financial changes at the USMS national office, Kermit spent hours analyzing OMS’ financial situation to be sure we could adapt to a lower income stream. He reached out to the Oregon Club to assist them in their financial discussions as well. He also became a contributing member of the USMS Governance Committee.
Kermit is the ‘always in the background’ person who is quiet but has made significant contributions to our organization over many years now and is a deserving recipient for the Dot Donnelly Service Award recognizing that service.