AWARDS.

Dan Bonfigli of Essex Junction, Vt., was recently presented the USPTA Industry Excellence Award for his remarkable grassroots effort to introduce tennis to the people of his community.

Bonfigli, director of tennis at Racquet's Edge in Essex Junction, received the award during a presentation at the USPTA World Conference on Tennis in Phoenix in September. The award recognizes the professional who has done the most to increase player participation through grassroots promotion and includes a $1,000 grant. The Tennis Industry Association sponsored the award. "Dan exemplifies the critical role of the tennis professional in growing tennis participation," said Kurt Kamperman, president of the TIA, who presented the award. "Dan single-handedly developed hundreds of new tennis players in his community."

A tennis teacher for 22 years, Bonfigli has successfully promoted tennis through programs of his own creation as well as industry-initiated ones. He created Jungle Team Tennis for Children and the Home-school Tennis Program, and implemented a Girl Scout curriculum for a tennis badge. He serves as the USTA Committee Chair for the Council on Tennis Growth in New England and as vice president of the USA/Vermont Tennis Community He has been a Free Lesson Blitz Captain for Vermont since 1998.

On September 28, Sandy Dorey was inducted into the 2000 Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame. Sparky Anderson, longtime Detroit Tigers coach and honorary chairperson, presented Dorey with the Lifetime Achievement Award. She was honored for her significant contributions to athletes with disabilities. Dorey, a recreation supervisor at Oakland County Parks, is an able-bodied supporter for the inclusion of all athletes. "The community of athletes with disabilities has become my second family Working with the wheelchair basketball league, Michigan Cerebral Palsy Sports Association and other athletes has enriched my life," Dorey said.

Her list of achievements includes: league director for the Michigan Wheelchair Basketball Association, games director for United U.S. Cerebral Palsy Sport Association, inclusive consultant for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and founder of the Warren Orlick Inclusive Golf Outing. Her work at Oakland County Parks as recreation supervisor includes an extensive adoptive recreation program. With a motto of "Sports by ability ... not disability" she includes socialization and competition with athletics. Programs include wheelchair sports (basketball, football, and softball), hearing-impaired volleyball and more. Many programs pair individuals with disabilities with able-bodied individuals. Dorey earned a bachelor of science degree in parks and recreation from Wayne State University She is currently working toward her master's degree in sports administration. She is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist.

New York City's Partnership for Parks won national recognition and a $100,000 grant as a recipient of an Innovations In American Government Award. The Partnerships program is among 10 winners chosen in one of the nation's most prestigious public service awards programs. Partnerships was honored for developing a program that helps revitalize struggling parks by creating a broad-based, committed constituency for parks throughout the city. The Innovations In American Government Awards program brings public attention to the quality and responsiveness of American government at all levels and helps foster the replication of programs that work. More than 85 percent of the programs receiving Innovations awards over the past 14 years have been replicated. The program is funded by the Ford Foundation and administered by the John F. Kennedy School Government at Harvard University in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. "At Partnerships for Parks, we believe that parks are essential to the life of the City, and that community is essential to the life of a park," said Timothy M. Tompkins, founder and director of Partnerships. "We have seen that parks that thrive, rather than simply survive, are those that have active communities caring and fighting for them. This award is incredibly important because it affirms that government and communities working together can use parks as a focal point for revitalizing not only parks, but also the neighborhood and cities that surround them."