Olympia Branch Honors Leaders, Volunteers, and Graduates

During our annual Awards Celebration in October, outstanding leaders were recognized for their contributions to the Olympia Branch, hiking and climbing pins were awarded, and graduating students were celebrated for their hard work and accomplishments.

Olympia MOUNTAINEERS SERVICE AWARD: Bob Keranen

The Olympia Branch Service Award is presented to a leader who consistently serves the branch above and beyond the call of duty and who is committed to the success of both new and long-term members. This year's recipient is Bob Keranen.

Bob was nominated by several Olympia Mountaineers members. They described his extensive involvement in the Mountaineers and his willingness to go out of his way to help students and members succeed.

One nominator said, "I'm nominating him because of the help I receive from him. He has offered help and assistance to me any time I needed it - whether it was inviting me to carpool, supporting my growth in an activity, or being available to answer general or specific questions about the club."

Another nominator said, "I highly recommend them. They have been kind and helpful to all other participants, other instructors, as well as students."

Bob joined The Mountaineers in January of 2008 and has continually demonstrated strong leadership, inspired members, and supported Mountaineers programs. He has incredibly logged more than 2,500 volunteer hours (and, as all leaders know, these are just the logged hours. Leaders regularly put in far more volunteer hours than they log).  

Bob has been Branch Chair three different times, with each time being a three-year commitment to fulfil the roles of Chair-Elect, Chair, and Immediate Past Chair. This means Bob has served a total of nine years in Branch Leadership. He was Climbing Committee Chair for many years, has been the First Aid Committee Chair for an equal amount of time, and has Leader badges in 17 different activities. He has achieved Super Volunteer for 11 consecutive years, been awarded Key Leader six times, and earned Key Instructor badge the last two years.

SILVER CRAMPON AWARD: jULIE dASSO

The Bruce Towhey Silver Crampon Award is given to a volunteer who goes above and beyond to contribute to the Olympia Basic Climbing Course. 

Julie received this award in recognition for being the backbone of the climbing program for years. She’s built and maintained the foundation that makes everything we do possible, strengthening the program's structure, refining its systems, and setting a clear standard. Her steady leadership and support have carried this program through a lot of change, and she’s done it all with patience and grace.

Scramble leader of the year:  Todd Mooney

Todd was recognized for his long term and deep commitment to to the scrambling program. He has been leading scrambles and involved with the scramble course for Olympia since 2014. He consistently demonstrates reliable and supportive volunteerism. In 2025, Todd instructed at every scramble course activity, including being day lead for both snow scrambles and one lecture, and made sure to offer early season scrambles to help students get valuable experience. Todd is welcoming, patient, and supportive. 

Hike Leader of the Year:  Mike Forsyth

Mike Forsyth was recognized as Hike Leader of the Year. Mike led near-weekly "rehab" hikes for Mountaineers members looking for gentle ways to get outdoors. He received this award in recognition of his dedication and leadership, as he mentored at least four new hike leaders. Mike chairs the Snowshoe Committee, is active with the Youth and Family Committee, and is also active with the Stewardship Committee.

Naturalist Leader of the Year:  Carol Froelich

Carol Froelich was recognized as Naturalist Leader of the Year. Carol, a member of the Naturalist Committee, developed and led a number of Naturalist hikes. She also developed, planned, and administered the Olympia Mountaineers Naturalist Book Club which included organizing an accompanying field trip or hike to complement the theme of each book the club read and discussed.

bASIC nAVIGATION vOLUNTEER OF THE yEAR: jOE NATTERER

Joe has been an integral part of the Navigation Committee for many years now. He comes with a wealth of knowledge and is one to arrive early and stay late to make sure everything gets done. He's always volunteering to help out whether it's setting up field day stations, running the workshop at Squaxin Park, or checking inventory of the committee's items in the storage unit. Patrick McLaughlin commented: "As new committee chairs, Todd or I are very thankful for Joe's assistance in making sure our first year leading the course was a smooth one."

Frank Maranville Award: Dixie Havlak

The Olympia Branch's most prestigious conservation and stewardship award is presented for long-term service to our public lands and our environment. The recipients distinguish themselves by their commitment to stewardship, their perseverance and expertise undertaking difficult challenges, their capacity for leadership, and their organizational skills.

This year, two Olympia Mountaineers were awarded the Frank Maranville Award.

Dixie Havlak has been inspiring our youngest generation of Mountaineers to protect, conserve and steward our natural lands for decades. Dixie enthusiastically led stewardship trips for families and adults. She participated in tree planting along the Elwha after the dam removal and other important conservation tasks. Dixie developed youth programming to cultivate a love of the outdoors, teach Leave No Trace principles, and provide active stewardship opportunities for kids. She led and organized The Mountaineers participation in the Green Congress, a special environmental education program for 3-12th grade students at The Evergreen State College for many years. 

FRANK MARANVILLE AWARD: TOM KEENAN

Tom Keenan participated in innumerable trail crew and stewardship projects for The Mountaineers, the Washington Trails Association, and local land trusts, primarily Nisqually Land Trust. He was awarded the Stewardship Achievement Award in 2023. He is very knowledgeable about trail drainage and repair, inspiring those who work with him to dedicate themselves to a task without the quick gratification of a logout or invasive removal.

STEWARDSHIP ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: SANDY CLARK

The Stewardship Achievement Award is given to branch members for their long-term dedication to conservation and their participation in stewardship activities. The recipient epitomizes environmental stewardship through their generous spirit of service to the natural world.

Sandy received his red hard hat for five work projects in 2023 on a Mt. St. Helens habitat restoration trip.  He has been a regular on our branch’s adopted trail, Church Creek, for two years, including most recently as assistant leader on a two-day project in August.

RECOGNITION FOR LEADING 100 TRIPS: mIKE mCINTOSH

Mike has been leading trips with The Mountaineers for 18 years. The 100 trips include climbs, scrambles, snowshoe outings, cross-country ski trips, youth trips, and hikes. "I have loved each of these," Mike said about his trips, "I believe in the mission of The Mountaineers which is to enrich the community by helping people explore, conserve, learn about, and enjoy the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest and beyond". Mike believes listing and leading a trip is a great way to support The Mountaineers mission!

Branch Hiking and Climbing Awards

• Olympia Branch South Cascade Lakes: A pin and badge earned for hiking to 12 alpine lakes in the South Cascades. 
  Recipients: James Souza and Kari Durr
  
• Olympia Lookouts Patch and Rocker: A rocker and badge to go with your patch and badge for hiking, climbing, or scrambling to the summit of peaks that are or were Forest Fire Lookouts sites. 
  Recipient: Jim Griffing
• Olympic Trails 100 miles: A patch badge earned by hiking 100 or more one way miles on trails in the Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest. 
  Recipients: Steve Thompson, David Hyde, Jim Griffing
• John Muir Trail Section Hiker: A profile badge for  backpacking the entire John Muir Trail in sections. 
  Recipient: Jean Fisher
• 50 Peaks in Mount Rainier: A badge and a challenge coined earned by climbing any 50 of designated peaks in Mt Rainier National Park. 
  Recipient: Ron Jones

COURSE GRADUATES INCLUDED

• 42 Navigation graduates
• 38 Wilderness Skills graduates
• 7 Conditioning Hiking Series graduates
• 15 Basic Snowshoe graduates
• 7 Basic Cross Country Ski graduates
• 17 Sea Kayaking graduates
• 11 Alpine Scrambling graduates
• 18 Basic Alpine graduates
• 23 MOFA graduates
• 27 Wilderness First Aid graduates