Call for Nominations for the RV/MH Hall of Fame Class of 2017

ELKHART, Ind., — Now that the RV/MH Hall of Fame (Hall) Class of 2016 has been announced the Hall’s Selection Committee has turn its attention to soliciting nominations for the Class of 2017.

Darryl Searer, Hall president, said, “The Hall welcomes nominations from all RV and manufactured housing sectors — manufacturers, dealers, campgrounds, housing communities, suppliers, user groups, trade media, associations, etc — for the class of 2017 and beyond.

Searer also announced that the board of directors at its February 9th board meeting voted to make a significant change to the Hall’s bylaws regarding hall of fame nominations.  In the past, if a person being nominated wasn’t selected in their first year of eligibility, they would remain in the pool of candidates for a period of three years.  After three years the nomination would have to be resubmitted.  The bylaws now reflect that a nominee will stay eligible for five years instead of three years.

Searer said, “The board believed that the number of outstanding candidates that would drop off the active list this year would be unfair to those who originally made the nomination asa well as the person being nominated.  And since it is a time consuming process to nominate someone they may be unwilling to resubmit an updated nomination.”

On another subject, Searer said, “The nominating committee is especially interested in receiving nominations for deserving early pioneers who may have been forgotten, passed over or overlooked in the past.”

The nomination guidelines and forms available online at www.rvmhhalloffame.org/pages/nominations.cfm.

According to the guidelines, anyone can nominate a person to the Hall of Fame that meets the eligibility requirements.  The only people who may not be considered are those who currently serve on the Hall’s Selection Committee.

To be eligible the nominee must be, or have been, an active participant in any segment of the recreation vehicle, campground or manufactured housing industries for a minimum of 25 years.

Also, the nomination form must be filled out in its entirety and must be accompanied by three supporting letters (no more, no less) that meet the Hall’s guidelines for these letters. Incomplete nominations cannot be considered. If the nominee is not selected within five years, he or she remains eligible only if the nomination is resubmitted and refreshed with additional information.

When evaluating a potential nominee, the selection committee will consider the nominee’s overall contributions to the good of the industry, to include both his or her positions, accomplishments and innovations on the job as well as volunteer work both inside and outside the industry, with special emphasis on volunteer work done on behalf of state and national associations and owner groups, the Hall of Fame itself and other industry-related organizations and causes.

If a completed nomination form and three properly-prepared seconding letters are received by October 31 of any year, the nominee will be in the pool of candidates considered for the following year’s class and for four years beyond that if not selected that year.

The Hall’s Selection Committee will announce its selections in January 2017 and those chosen will be inducted at the Hall’s annual Induction dinner in August. The Hall’s bylaws allow for up to 10 inductees per year.

Searer said, “The Selection Committee is made up of an equal number of members of the RV and Manufactured Housing industries, and members will only vote on nominees from their respective industries.”

Once the nomination form and supporting letters have been completed, the nominations may be submitted by mail, in person at the Hall, or by fax at 574-293-3466.