The eighth recipient of the WBC’s Hobby Service Award was Bruno Sinigaglio, with 69 votes. Bruno is almost single-handedly responsible for the Grognard Pre-con, where he GMs all eight events until the WBC "day" shift arrives to take over later in the week. Even then, his hand is clearly the driving force in completing the paperwork for many of these events. He also runs several BPA email tournaments for the classic hex wargames and is largely responsible for their continued survival at WBC with his GM-intensive flexible format scheduling, which is accomplished at the cost of his own laurel chances. He stepped out of grognard character to Sponsor Queen's Gambit, a perennial favorite at WBC. Bruno received an engraved book clock keepsake to commemorate this award.

BPA applauds Bruno ’s efforts—and those of previous recipients—and the shining example they provide for the spirit of volunteerism that drives WBC. Note: The initial six honorees, one for each year of the WBC, were announced in 2005.

Previous WBC Hobby Service Award Recipients

Stuart Tucker 2005	Kathy Stroh 2005	Steve Okonski 2005	Vince Meconi 2005
Mark McLaughlin 2005	Ken Whitesell 2005	Keith Wixson 2006	Bruno Sinigaglio 2007

Stuart Tucker (2005): Stuart is a past Board member who has always shouldered at least one GM burden every year; often doubling up to handle an orphaned event as well. Under his direction, Hannibal has prospered in a Pre-Con slot and he is largely responsible for the success of the Winter Activation Meeting mini-con. He may be better known for his role as the Happy Handicapper who posts the odds and commentary for our Team Tournament event. Lastly, he originated the Laurels concept that drives all of the Caesar and other metagaming secondary features of WBC. No wonder he led all the nominees in votes!

Kathy Stroh (2005): Kathy is also a past Board member who could always be counted on to volunteer when a job needed doing. She headed the Juniors program at WBC long before there was a WBC and remains active as a Juniors GM today. Gender issues don’t bother Kathy—she’s a regular at the Enlightenment mini-con and has long competed there as the sole female in attendance.

Steve Okonski (2005): Steve is the guy behind the scenes who gives BPA its public face to the world—working hard to organize our ever growing website. His programming skills have also fathered the Personal Scheduler which is a true boon to WBC veterans plotting out their daily schedules. Many of the photos gracing our website have come from Steve’s camera in the years he’s been able to attend. An ardent rail game buff, he has been active helping to run Rail Baron and Empire Builder and is also a winner of our Sportsmanship Award. Quite a resume.

Vince Meconi (2005): Vince is the epitome of a professional GM. His vibrant War At Sea tournaments just get bigger and better every year despite being long out of print. He was the first GM to publish extensive statistics pertaining to his tournament. His players know that they will be provided plenty of post-event coverage direct from the horse’s mouth every year. Not coincidentally, Vince always ranks highly in the GM of the Year balloting.

Mark McLaughlin (2005): Mark really is the epitome of the enthusiastic volunteer. He’s never had a child attend WBC but every year he runs Princess Ryan’s just for the kids on Saturday morning. And every night he runs Napoleonic Wars for us big kids. Not a tournament kind of guy, Mark is unusual in that he doesn’t play in his event except as needed to round out a table. But that doesn’t stop him from buying a round for the finalists and toasting the emperor.

Ken Whitesell (2005): Ken stands out in a crowd. Even without his hat adorned with his bonafides—badges from every Avaloncon/WBC—the 6’ 5" WBC bouncer doesn’t often sneak up on you. The founder of the Tontine society for veterans of all Avaloncons/WBCs, Ken is responsible for those WBC Legion XV additions to our Badge holders that all the in crowd is wearing. Ken has always taken on the dirty jobs that no one else wants—like acting as security in our non-obtrusive honor system badge police. He also volunteers for whatever event is orphaned in the waning days of the scheduling - foregoing the pleasure of running a favorite game for whatever happens to be needed. The big lug is really a softie at heart.

Keith Wixson (2006): Keith garnered 68 of a possible 96 votes for the honor from a strong field whose dozen scores ranged between 26 and 68. Keith is widely considered one of the best GMs at WBC where he has long been active in the CDW field and is known particularly for his strong support of Wilderness War which he backs with an assortment of unique period weapon replica prizes. His service to gaming in general and BPA in particular is also noted with his strong stewardship of quality PBeM tournaments and as a reliable fixture behind the Winter Activation Meeting mini-con.

Bruno Sinigaglio (2007): Bruno garnered 69 of a possible 96 votes. Bruno is almost single-handedly responsible for the Grognard Pre-con, where he GMs all eight events until the WBC "day" shift arrives to take over later in the week. Even then, his hand is clearly the driving force in completing the paperwork for many of these events. He also runs several BPA email tournaments for the classic hex wargames and is largely responsible for their continued survival at WBC with his GM-intensive flexible format scheduling, which is accomplished at the cost of his own laurel chances. He stepped out of grognard character to Sponsor Queen's Gambit, a perennial favorite at WBC.