Best of the Best 2009
It’s always rewarding to see the winners of our Best of the Best awards in person at Club Industry. My colleagues Pam Kufahl and Stephanie Bloyd presented the plaques Friday to our six winners before Mark Mastrov’s keynote address.
You have to put yourself in the shoes of these deserving club operators. They not only take the time to create these innovative programs, but they also take the time to send us the entries (along with many others who did not win). Then, once they’re chosen as the winners, they all make plans in their busy schedules to drive or fly to Chicago for the awards presentation, with nice outfits packed neatly in their suitcases. This effort is not lost on those of us who organize this contest. As the winners came on stage and posed for photos, you could see the joy and happiness in their faces, making this experience rewarding for everybody.
Once again, here are this year’s Best of the Best winners:
Best Behavior Modification Program: Chesapeake Energy Corp., Oklahoma City.
Best Children’s Program: Sparrow’s Michigan Athletic Club, East Lansing, MI.
Best Community-Based Program: The Atlantic Club, Red Bank and Manasquan, NJ. 
Best Group Training: Lindenhurst Health & Fitness Center of Lake Forest Hospital, Lindenhurst IL. 
Best New Member Integration Program: Akron General Lifestyles, Akron, OH
Best Nonmember Program: Big Vanilla Athletic Club, Arnold, MD.
We’ll provide links to their stories from our October issue this week.
