The Jules Ladany Award

Two of our founding members were Jules and Ruth Ladany. Both Jules and Ruth were very active in bonsai at D. Hill prior to the formation of the Society as it is today. Without the leadership of those two, there may very well have been no Society today.

The Ladanys were very generous to the organization in many ways. They not only gave of their time and their thought to the Society, but they also donated money and held many of the early meetings in their home.

When Jules died, Ruth determined that she wanted to have an annual award in Jules' name. The award had basically two requirements. The person had to have devoted time and effort to the advancement of the Midwest Bonsai Society. The person honored had to have kept some bonsai tree in good health and continued growth for a number of years.

This award is a silver bowl on a wooden base. Recipient's names are inscribed on plaques on the base. This silver bowl is given to the honoree for a year. The honoree also gets a smaller replica of the large bowl to keep permanently.

This honor is presented each year at the Saturday banquet during the August Show.

Past Recipients:

1979 - Alex Alexander
1980 - Les Lange
1981 - Charles and Elizabeth Wilson
1982 - Stephen Lehuta
1983 - Don Willkomm
1984 - Alex Alexander
1985 - M. P. Voynovich
1986 - Ivan A. Watters
1987 - E. A. Morris
1988 - Kevin Jones
1989 - Fran Hiller
1990 - Tom Tecza
1991 - Kelley Adkins
1992 - Jack Fried
1993 - Carlos Martinez
1994 - Leonard Wegryn
1995 - LaLa Pasternak
1996 - Elias Fischer
1997 - Lorraine May
1998 - Shigeo Ito
1999 - Don Willkomm
2000 - Mary & Sam Himoto
2001 - Jack Thompson
2002 - Rich Helminiak
2003 - Ed & Joann Polley
2004 - Steve Snoke
2005 - Larry Larimer
2006 - Mary Fahey
2007 - Susumu Nakamura
2008 - Tom Thomas
2009 - Elizabeth Carroll
2010 - Linda Kruzic
2011 - James Fairchild
2012 - Tony Mihalic, Sr.
2013 - Cat Nelson
2014 - Rich Helminiak
2015 - Louise & Flo Rzeszewski
2016 - Susan Babyk
2018 - Robert C. King
2021 - Larry Stephan
2022 - Robert and Amy Wright