Three longtime credit union industry leaders and a league received the honor, recognition and gratitude of peers at this year's Herb Wegner National Award Dinner on March 9.
Denise Gabel, chief operating officer of the Northwest Credit Union Association, served as the emcee for the dinner, which the National Credit Union Foundation held for the first time at the Marriott Marquis in Washington. The annual dinner is the foundation's signature event.
Those honored for lifetime achievement included Mike Mercer, president/CEO of Georgia Credit Union Affiliates, Bob Schumacher, retired president/CEO of MountainCrest Credit Union and Clarence Hall Jr., chairman and president/CEO of Issaquena County FCU. The foundation also recognized the Iowa Credit Union League for lifetime achievement.
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"The Iowa Credit Union League and Iowa's credit unions aspire to serve individuals and communities in much the same way as our fellow Wegner Award honorees have. We are humbled to share the stage with each of them," Dave Cale, CEO of Financial Plus Credit Union and chair of the ICUL board of directors said. "In the end, we believe we will best be measured by how we treat those who have the least."
"I want to leave you with a comment I would say to you on the Wegner Award evenings when I had the honor to be your emcee," Schumacher said after accepting his award. "If you remember I would tell you that the Wegner Awards were the best night of my credit union year! Well ladies and gentlemen, I can honestly tell you that tonight's Wegner Awards is the best night of my credit union life – and I need to thank all of you for that."
Schumacher emceed the Wegner Awards dinner for 15 years prior to Gabel. He also received a Wegner Anchor Award in 2012 and is the first person to receive both the anchor award and a lifetime achievement award.
"It's a great honor for me to stand here tonight and accept this award," Hall said after accepting his award. "Not only do I accept it for myself, I accept it for my family, the members of Issaquena County FCU, the citizens of the poorest county in the U. S. Issaquena County, for the people of Mississippi, and all those soldiers gone on that helped to make this day possible. And last but not least I give thanks to the good Lord, who made us all and knew our potentials before we could even have a vision of life."
"Credit unions can exist for a long time if they aim for relevant," Mercer said after accepting his award. "But, relevant has a habit of becoming ordinary. Credit unions could aspire to be vital … indispensable. Our fortune is tied to the well being of the great sea of Americans who hold middle class aspirations."
This year's winners joined 55 individuals and 24 organizations whose efforts over the past 27 years have earned them the recognition of Herb Wegner Memorial Awards, the foundation said.
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