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THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC.

GUIDELINES FOR PRESENTATION OF AWARDS

 

YOUTH AWARDS

Name:                    Eric Ridley Youth Encouragement Award

Year of Inception: 1993

Criteria:

Any outstanding avicultural achievement by a Junior Member or Junior Associate Member.

·          The nominee must be a member of the Society and aged 16 years or under in the year for which they are nominated.

·          Achievement may be literary (e.g. writing articles) or avicultural (success in keeping & breeding difficult species of birds).

Nominations:

Nominations for the preceding year to be forwarded, in writing, to be received by the Society Secretary no later than 30th June each year.

Voting:

Nominations to be circulated to Branch Secretaries and the award decided at the next Joint Branch Meeting.  The decision of the Joint Branch Meeting will be final.

Presentation:

A Book Prize, with a suitably inscribed bookplate attached to the inside front cover (as for school book prizes).  To be presented by the Society President (or appointed delegate).

BREEDING AWARDS

Name:                    Society Bronze Medal

                                (known as the R.W. McKechnie Memorial Award from 1979)

Year of Inception: 1928

Criteria:

First breeding in captivity of an eligible species of bird by a member of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc.

Eligible species include all species indigenous to Australia, excluding species officially listed as ineligible.  This award is not restricted to South Australian members.  Recipient must be a member of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc. for the year for which the award is nominated.

The eligibility of sub-species to be decided by the Committee.

Eligible birds must be entirely parent raised to independence.

Nomination:

Nominations shall only be received on the current nomination form, obtained from the Secretary for each nomination.  The nomination form must be completed by the member nominating for the award, as per the conditions on the official form, and forwarded to the Committee for consideration.

Voting:

To be voted on by the Committee of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc.  The decision of the Committee is final.

Presentation:

Successful nominees will be presented with the R.W. McKechnie Bronze Medal, which is engraved with:

·          the member's name and the year of presentation.

·          the correct common and scientific name of the species.

Name:                    Society Silver Medal

                                (known as the Simon Harvey Memorial Medal from 1956)

Year of Inception: 1928

The most meritorious first breeding achievement in any year from 1st July to 30th June.  All first breeding achievements awarded during this period shall be eligible for consideration.  The recipient must be a member of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc. for the year for which the award is nominated.

Nomination :

No nomination is required.

Voting:

At the July Committee meeting of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc., all first breeding reports received prior to the 30th June that year shall be considered and the decision is taken by ballot.  It is not obligatory to award a Simon Harvey Memorial Medal each year.  If only one first breeding award has been granted, the Committee may still award a Simon Harvey Memorial Medal if it is felt that the achievement merits the award.  The decision of the Committee is final.

Presentation:

Successful nominations will be presented with a silver (Simon Harvey Memorial) medal, which is engraved with:

·          the member's name and the year of presentation.

·          the correct common and scientific name of the species.

LITERARY AWARDS

Name:                    Claude E. Bennett Memorial Award

Year of inception: 1979

Criteria:

Shall be awarded to the author of the article considered to of the most practical benefit to aviculture (the word "practical" to be broadly applicable). The following restrictions apply:

·          The recipient must be a member of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc. for the year for which the award is nominated.

·          The article must be an original article (i.e. first appearing in "Bird Keeping in Australia" and written specifically for this magazine) and must be published in "Bird Keeping in Australia" during the calendar year January 1st to December 31st for which the award is presented.

·          Avicultural interviews/discussions, aviary visits and transcripts of tapes of meetings shall not be eligible.  Individual articles within a series shall be eligible as single articles or as a series.  Anonymous articles or those written under a pen name shall not be eligible.  As the final decision on the award is made by the Committee, the Editor of "Bird Keeping in Australia" and members of the Editorial Sub-Committee shall be eligible.

Nomination and Voting:

The Editorial Sub-Committee shall select up to three (3) articles that meet the above criteria for consideration by the Committee and shall nominate one article as the most appropriate for the award.

A photocopy of the articles shall be distributed to all Committee members at the January General Meeting, The final decision on the award shall be made at the January Committee meeting, following discussion of the Editorial Sub-Committee's recommendations.  The decision of the Committee shall be final.

Presentation:

A framed certificate shall be presented to the winner of the award at the Annual General Meeting of the Society.

The recipient's name and title of the article shall be printed in "Bird Keeping in Australia".

GENERAL AWARDS

Name:                    Eric Baxter Award

Year of Inception: 1988

Criteria:

The recipient must be a member of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc. for the year for which the award is nominated.

The Eric Baxter Award is divided into three categories that allows for recognition of outstanding achievement in a wide variety of areas.  The three categories are:

·          Service to the Society:

·          Significant achievements of members related to discrete projects or work undertaken over a relatively short period of time.

·          Avicultural Achievement:

·          For breeding and maintaining a rare species or for outstanding success with a particular species of bird (native, exotic and including mutations).

·          Special Merit:

·          For outstanding achievement in other areas (e.g. ornithological, literacy).

Nominations:

Official nomination forms may be obtained from the Secretary.  To be completed and signed by the nominator and forwarded to the Committee for consideration.  A letter outlining the details of the nomination is also acceptable.

Voting:

Each nomination received will be voted on by the Committee of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc.  The decision of the Committee is final.

Presentation:

A framed certificate, suitably inscribed shall be presented at a General Meeting of the Society or Branch.

·          Service to the Society: Blue Certificate

·          Avicultural Achievement: Green Certificate

·          Special Merit: Yellow Certificate

A silver (Eric Baxter) medal shall also be presented, which is to be engraved with:

·          the member's name and date of presentation

·          the category of the award

Name:                    Life Membership

Year of Inception: The first Life Membership was awarded to Claude E. Bennett in 1933.

Criteria:

Recipient must be a member of the Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc.  Life membership may be awarded to a member in recognition of outstanding service to the Society, which may include service to a branch of the Society.

Nomination and Voting:

Nominations must be submitted to the Committee in writing and signed by the nominator.  Such nominations shall be distributed to Committee members at a Committee meeting and shall be decided on at the following monthly Committee meeting.  The Committee may reject the nomination or recommend that the nomination be submitted to a General Meeting of the Society. This must be done within three (3) months of the Committee meeting at which the nomination was determined.

Life Membership may be awarded by a resolution of a General Meeting of the Society.  The resolution shall be decided by a majority show of hands.

Presentation:

A framed Certificate, suitably inscribed shall be presented at a General Meeting of the Society or Branch.  Life members shall also receive a Society Badge inscribed with "Life Member".

BRANCH AWARDS

Branches may create their own awards or certificates, provided that they are not known by any names that could be associated with awards presented by the Society Committee.  The award shall be worded to indicate that it is a Branch Award. 

Prior to presenting a Branch Award for the first time, the Branch shall inform the Society Committee, in writing, of the Branch's intention to present such an award.  The Branch shall also inform the Society Committee of subsequent presentations of any major Branch award.

BRANCH LIFE MEMBERSHIP

A Branch may grant its own Life Membership award - for services rendered to that Branch by a member of the Society.  The Award shall be known as:

“Life Member, Avicultural Society of S.A. Inc, ............ Branch"

The recipient of a Branch Life Membership shall be entitled to the same benefits as afforded to a Life Member of the Society, except that the Branch awarding the Branch Life Membership shall be financially responsible for subscription fees for that member.

Receipt of Branch Life Membership does not exclude the recipient from Life Membership of the Society.