Randy Harwood Memorial Service Award

The Mid Hudson Rowing Association Randy Harwood Memorial Service Award honors members who have provided exceptional service to MHRA over time.  
Recipients display the following attributes which were exemplified by Randy Harwood:

2008 Recipients

John Mylod

John has the longest standing membership in MHRA and embodies the characteristics identified in the Harwood Award.

John was MHRA president from the late 70's through 2001.  He then served as treasurer for several years. In 1992, he began the community rowing program and purchased shells with money from a bequest of $5000 from an early member. In the fall of 1998, he signed an agreement for MHRA with Lourdes HS to share rack space in the Boathouse at what is now Quiet Cove Park. In addition to those roles he is the club historian, naturalist and environmental conscience.
 
When MHRA operated out of the Quiet Cove site, on any given weekend John would be there with a lawn mower, hedge trimmer or just a pair of work gloves to make sure the site looked the way it should. Every spring and fall John helped coordinate the installation or removal of the docks irregardless of the weather. (It doesn’t take long to get numb fingers making cotter pins fit when the river temperature is less than 50 degrees)

John fosters the sport of rowing through his continued commitment to Learn-to-Row programs. Every year, he encourages class participants both on and off the water.  His patience and sense of humor has helped many of us master the basics and continue the pursuit our individual goals.

Candy Davies

As a member of MHRA for 10 years, Candy Davies has worked steadily to build membership, make new members feel welcome and support the daily operation of the club through coaching and coxing.

She served on the Board of Directors for 6 years and held the positions of vice president and secretary.

This past year she volunteered as the club coach in addition to coordinating the Learn-To-Row (LTR) Program. Candy’s most significant contribution was initiating MHRA participation in national Learn-To-Row Day starting in 2001 and using that event to transform our Learn-To-Row Program. Under her guidance LTR has grown into a highly regarded program which annually teaches adults form the community to row in 3 summer sessions. As a result, the LTR program has become and a major source of revenue for MHRA and the engine for growing club membership. She spends countless hours on the water and at the rowing tanks coaching Learn-To-Row, Learn-To-Scull, club rows and competitive women’s crews.

In addition to coaching, Candy has been the prime promoter of the club by creating club brochures, advertising on the radio and in the local paper and writing press releases following club events. She is the primary contact for the club phone and e-mail address and responds regularly to inquiries about our club and rowing from the community. She also coordinates shirt and jacket sales for the club to build team spirit.

Candy’s service has been a prime driver for the growth of MHRA and has enabled the club to teach the benefits of rowing to 100’s of people in the Hudson Valley