NACHI Awards Ceremony a "Big Hit"

National Association of
Certified Home Inspectors
Office of the Executive Director
921 Pennsylvania Avenue
Elmira, New York 14904-2652

2006 Awards Ceremony

I am delighted to be here and I’m particularly delighted to be here on this occasion to celebrate the accomplishments of NACHI’s elite. I’m reminded of a phrase coined by our founder, Mr. Nick Gromicko, “NACHI ANGELS”….

We meet here in Toronto, at a great city noted for knowledge and progress, and in a country noted for strength, and we stand in need of all – all three, for we meet in a time of change and challenge, in a period of hope and fear, and in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. Remember, the greater is our ignorance as our knowledge increases.

No one can fully grasp how far and how fast NACHI has come. This is a breathtaking pace, and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, and new dangers. So it is not surprising that some would have or prefer us to stay where we are a little bit longer and to rest and wait. But NACHI was built by forward thinkers – movers and shakers, if you will. If progress teaches us anything, it is that in our quest for knowledge and progress, inspectors are determined and cannot be deterred. Associations are steered by the “wants and needs” of their membership and for those associations that cannot or will not address those “wants and needs” through knowledge, progress, and strength, they can expect to stay behind and loose ground in this progressive industry.

The “wants and needs” of our membership can only be fulfilled if we as an association are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first – in everything.

In short, our leadership in marketing, our leadership in industry standards, out leadership in education, our obligations to ourselves as well as to others, all require us to make this effort to solve or resolve the unknown, to address them for the good of the industry, in order for us to maintain our status as the world’s leading Home inspection Association.

Some say that we have had our failures, but I prefer to say that we have had our learning experiences. Rarely have I seen a NACHI project or program not morph into a solid and meaningful benefit for our membership. So much so that NACHI has expanded and grown to the point of being responsible not only to our own membership but to the industry as a whole.

But no matter how much I boast of NACHI and its accomplishments none of this would be possible without the support and commitment of our members and staff. In 2004 I was honored by being named NACHI’s 2004 “Member of the Year”, along with others, such as:

Mr. Joe Farsetta – NACHI U.S. Member of the Year
Mr. Gil Strahan – NACHI Canadian Member of the Year, and
Porter Valley Software and Mr. Will Handley – NACHI Inventions and Innovations recipients.

In 2005 we honored:

Mr. Paul Sabados – NACHI Member of the Year
Mr. Russel Ray – NACHI U.S. Member of the Year
Mr. Robert Brown – NACHI Canadian Member of the Year, and
Certified Adult Training Service – NACHI Inventions and Innovations recipient.

Tonight we celebrate and honor NACHI’s 2006 “Angels”

Mr. Chris Morrell and the NACHI IT Department – 2006 Inventions and Innovations Award

I’ll begin by saying that “The success of NACHI is measured by its triumph of marketing over technology”.

Home Inspections have advanced to the point of being the backbone of the Real Estate process. From new construction to historical homes, every facet of an inspection is covered by NACHI. At NACHI we encourage our members to not only study, learn and keep abreast of the profession, but we also encourage our non-inspecting staff to do the same in order to provide our membership with the most current information available.

Truly the success of NACHI falls on the back of Chris and his team of wizards. Think for a minute about the complexity of NACHI’s web presence alone, and couple that with the demands of progress and new innovation. How many of us have perused or participated in:

NACHI’s On Line Exam - Thank Chris…
NACHI’s Message Board – Thank Chris…
NACHI’s Find An Inspector, Seek An Inspector and countless other search engines – Thank Chris…
NACHI’s Inspector University – Thank Chris…
NACHI’s Inspector Pages – Thank Chris…
And the list goes on and on. Thank Chris…

We consider Chris as not only the NACHI Webmaster but the “Master of the Web”. I am honored to be a part of NACHI and the future and look forward to ensuring it’s a successful one. I am honored to be associated with Chris and his team. A team of “Movers and Shakers.”

Mr. Jeff Pope – 2006 NACHI U.S. Member of the Year

Congratulations to long time NACHI member and friend, Mr. Jeff Pope for winning the U.S. Member of the Year award.

Many have heard of the term “Yeoman’s Yeoman” or “Best of the Best”. Jeff Pope in my opinion is the “Inspectors, Inspector”.

Through his unselfishness Jeff has helped many inspectors within and outside of NACHI within and outside of NACHI, with his code compliancy knowledge in all aspects of the home industry. He is continuously very helpful on various Industry message boards with factual and precise information or reference. Through his ability to clearly, precisely and accurately answer question after question, Jeff has become an “on-call” technical adviser to the industry and has never failed to take the extra time to assist others whether through the message board systems or by phone, email, etc.

Mr. Roy Cooke – 2006 NACHI Canadian Member of the Year

It is my pleasure to describe this recipient as an individual that has continuously and vigorously provided without hesitation his informative knowledge intuition and experience as a Home Inspector to Realtors and to the public sector and expanded to promote education venues to the public on numerous talk shows since 1999.

Ever since this man has brought NACHI to Canada, he has consistently promoted and promulgated NACHI in every way possible. From his radio broadcast to the hands-on approach to new NACHI members on the bulletin board, this man has in do doubt provided above and beyond what would be expected.

I believe that this man personifies NACHI’s mission statement of being knowledgeable, proactive, helpful and professional. We all know of someone who we looked up to or admired for doing something that is praiseworthy and we all know someone who is deserving of recognition for their contributions, but seldom are those persons recognized as one - until tonight when we have come together to recognize Mr. Cooke who personifies both in his promotion and contributions to NACHI. A man who has helped not only the Association in promoting the NACHI name on the radio, but also thru realtor groups, chapter meeting, casual conversations, etc. I must note that no chapter meeting or convention seems to be too far for Roy and his partner and wife, “Char”.

I think we all know that the initials RC are synonymous with Roy Cooke a man who probably needs no introduction, but perhaps recognition only by way of a face to the name. Roy – a man who has distinguished himself by his consistency, excellence and presence; a man who would literally give you the shirt off of his back if it would help you. The experience and knowledge this man possesses and shares throughout the Real Estate and Home Inspection communities and inspectors within and outside of NACHI are second to none.

On April 18th, of this year an article appeared in a local newspaper that sums it all up. Roy was elected as NACHI’s Canadian member of the Year. ‘by his peers in the industry”.

Mr. William Decker – NACHI 2006, Member of the Year

This esteemed member has always sought to provide helpful knowledge backed with strong ethical and moral conduct to his fellow chapter members, fellow NACHI members, and the public in general without personal gain or acknowledgement. Even when offered praise, he humbly places NACHI and its members first and foremost. Mr. Decker’s many accomplishments and promotions of NACHI, his fellow members, and the inspection industry in general, have all contributed to his achieving this award. Will most assuredly personifies NACHI’s mission statements “knowledge, proactive, helpful and professional” through his continuous free giving actions and character. His bulleting board tag line of “Hope this Helps”, says it all.

Will’s helping nature and unforgettable bright orange presence adds to the uniqueness of this most deserving award recipient. If you have not yet met Mr. Decker or benefited from his many helpful postings and actions, you are truly missing out of this mans generous offerings.

In 2006, Will re-created the “ 10 Deadly Mistakes” brochure as well as produced engaging and entertaining video and power-point presentations for all NACHI members to use and share with clients, realtors, etc. He also has continually extended his ever helpful hand in the many accomplishments of the successful Chicago-land Chapter. Again, all without requiring personal acknowledgement or gain. He has always turned the praise back to NACHI and its members.

I promised myself not to make reference to Will’s height. So in closing I will simply state – “That a man never stands so tall as when he kneels to help others”.

Nice Job Guys

Yes, quite…congratulations to all!:smiley:

Way to go gentlemen!

John, that was one remarkable description and appreciation speech for the Award Winners.
My sincere congratulations to all.

Nice job, and wish I could have been there to see.
Maybe next time.

Marcel :slight_smile: :smiley:
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Congratulations

Congrats all and thanks for all the hard work and the unbelievable knowledge base you all have

It was a pleasure to see the Members of the Year recognized, but also a pleasure to hear John read his introduction.

Congratulations and see you all next year back in Toronto!

I gave Chris a couple of photos from the awards dinner. Hopefully he will have them up in a few days.

John;

I hope, one day, to make you “cry for happy” like you did when you presented the award to me.

There are times when G-d makes you understand that you are so TOTALLY unworthy of something, but gives it to you anyway (rent the recent football movie "Facing the Giants for context). This was such a moment.

I am so blessed by each an every one of you, and so humbled, and so proud to be one of the band :smiley: .

Now, dang it, I’ve gotta figure out wnat I can do for an encore :mrgreen: .

From the bottom of my heart, and wishing His blessings on each and every one of you, thanks.

Congratulations, Chris, Roy, Jeff and William

Words can not express my appreciation for the help you have all provided me.
It was a pleasure and an honor to meet each and every NACHI member in attendance, Mr. Decker, Mr. Cook, RR, Chris Morrell (wise beyond his years), Mario, Lisa, Nick, Kenny Hart, Paul Abernathy, and of course John “pop” Bowman and many many more inspectors and instructors alike.