The NASG has established several awards to recognize outstanding contributions to the world of S. These include:

Bernie Thomas Memorial Award
Charlie Sandersfeld Memorial Manufacturer's Award
Perles Publication Award
Josh Seltzer S Website Award

Here's a little information about each of the awards and the past recipients.

Bernie Thomas Memorial Award

Presented in recognition for meritorious service to S gauge or the NASG.

Purpose of Award

To provide a living memorial to Bernie Thomas for his unselfish, active, and optimistic role in supporting and promoting S gauge during the early 1960's when little was available.

Timing of Award

Presented once a year at the NASG Annual Convention.

Determination of Award

By NASG Board Of Trustees majority vote of people nominated by the individual Board Of Trustees members.  After 1980, the NASG Board Of Trustees determined the Award could be bestowed upon an individual one time only, as the intent of the Award was not for the same individual to receive it year after year.  Plus, as Honorary Membership in NASG can only be received one time.  Current NASG Board Of Trustees members are not eligible for nomination.

Recognition

By Honorary Membership in NASG, Inc. good for life plus a plaque/trophy.  It is the responsibility of the person in charge of the BTMA to inform the NASG Membership Chairman of the present year's BTMA recipient in order that the recipient can be added to the membership roster as an honorary member.  It is also the responsibility of the person in charge of the BTMA to inform the NASG Membership Chairman when a BTMA recipient is deceased in order that the Membership Chairman can remove the deceased from the current membership listing.

Funding

The cost of the plaque/trophy and costs of NASG membership will be financed from the NASG General Fund.

Bernie Thomas

In the early 1960's, S gauge manufacturers were few and S gaugers predicting a bright future were fewer.  Bernie Thomas was one of them.  He was active and optimistic, working tirelessly to support newcomers with articles on American Flyer conversions and other simple projects.  He volunteered to become NASG's General Director and developed the rotating, visiting club format, which evolved into the present NASG Annual Convention. He traveled unselfishly to attend meetings and judge contests wherever S could be promoted.  The May 1965 NESGA Convention is said to have been a tribute to his organizational ability.  He died unexpectedly at age 50 in July of that same year.

Bernie Thomas was born in Lima, Ohio, and became a Senior Metallurgical Inspector with Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation in Pittsburgh, PA.  He never married, splitting his time between work, his hobby, and caring for his invalid mother.  When he died in 1965, he left many saddened friends and a legacy for the NASG organization to grow and flourish.

Origination

Dick Schlott and the Deep South S Gaugers originated the Bernie Thomas Memorial Award shortly after Bernie's death.

Recipients

The recipients of this award:

CHARLIE SANDERSFELD MEMORIAL MANUFACTURER'S AWARD

Presented to a company in recognition for its efforts in supporting and promoting S gauge.

Purpose of Award

To provide recognition to a company for its efforts in supporting and promoting S gauge.

Timing of Award

Presented once a year at the NASG Annual Convention.

Determination of Award

By NASG Board of Trustees majority vote of companies nominated by the individual Board of Trustees members.

Recognition

Plaque/trophy.

Funding

The cost of the plaque/trophy will be financed from the NASG General Fund.

Origination

Don Thompson and Mike Ferraro originated the Outstanding S Gauge Manufacturers Award in July 1988.  In June 1990 the NASG Board Of Trustees voted to rename the award from the OUTSTANDING S GAUGE MANUFACTURERS AWARD to CHARLES SANDERSFELD MEMORIAL MANUFACTURER'S AWARD in memory of Charlie Sandersfeld who strongly promoted S gauge and brought many high quality S gauge items to the market place.

Recipients

The recipients of this award:

PERLES PUBLICATION AWARD

Presented for the best S gauge article in a non-S gauge publication.

Purpose of Award

To provide recognition for the efforts of person(s) who best presents the S gauge story to outsiders through an article published in a non-S gauge publication, which promotes and publicizes S gauge.  Staff writers paid by the publication in which the article appears are not eligible for any part of the award.

Timing of Award

Presented once a year provided there are articles, which qualify.

Timing of Article

Appearing in publication over a one year period, April 1 through March 31.  The publication must be on the newsstand or received by subscribers within this time period regardless of the publication cover date.

Determination of Award

By NASG Board of Trustees majority vote of articles nominated by Perles Publication Award Committee.

Recognition of Award

Cash award of $100.00 plus plaque/trophy.  For the 1989 Award only, an Omnicon Scale Models F-7 (donated by Omnicon Scale Models) was awarded in addition to the $100.00.

Honorable Mention

Up to a maximum of 2 Honorable Mentions may be presented once a year for articles, which qualify for promoting S gauge in a non-S gauge publication, but the article(s) does not receive the Perles Publication Award.  Recognition is to be a certificate.  The "Timing of Award", "Timing of Articles", and "Determination of Award" sections of the Perles Publication Award also govern the Honorable Mention.

Funding

Proceeds from auction of Tony Perles' S gauge items and any donations to this award were put into the NASG General Fund.  Any interest from the proceeds of the auction and any donations will finance the award.  If the interest does not completely cover the cost of the award, NASG General Fund monies will be used for the remainder necessary to complete the value of the award.

Tony Perles

He was a published author and wrote a number of articles of various types for the S gauge press.  For a while, Tony produced a line of S scale dry transfers, and also, did much of the art work for the dry transfers produced by Clover House.  He was an avid railfan and model railroader who was especially fond of S scale in which he did his primary modeling.

Origination

Ed Loizeaux and Bill Roberts originated the Perles Publication Award in June 1987 using part of Tony Perles' estate as a foundation for the award.  The Honorable Mention was proposed by Moe Berk and approved by the NASG Board of Trustees in 1998.

Recipients Of Award

The recipients of this award:

Recipients Of Honorable Mention

The recipients of the Honorable Mention:

JOSH SELTZER S WEBSITE AWARD

Presented to the  proprietor of a web site supporting the S modeling community.

Purpose of Award

To provide recognition to an individual, company, or group for its promotion of S scale modeling via a web site on the Internet.

Timing of Award

Presented once a year at the NASG Annual Convention, usually at the Convention banquet.

Determination of Award

The award is given by the NASG Promotions Committee, with the award winner determined by majority vote of the S modeling community, from among those web sites that choose to participate in the balloting by displaying the Josh Seltzer Website Award "Vote Here" button on their web site. Look for the Josh Seltzer  Website Award button on your favorite web site to vote.

Recognition

Plaque.

Funding

The cost of the plaque is funded by the NASG Promotion Committee.

Origination

The Josh Seltzer Website Award was created in 2003 with the first award given in 2004. The award is given in memory of Josh Seltzer. Josh was a real promoter of S scale model railroading, who always had time for answering questions and helping folks with their modeling efforts. Josh was an elected officer of  the National Association of S Gaugers and of the Cuyahoga Valley S Gauge Association in Ohio. He was a first class modeler who made many contributions to model railroading and specifically the S modeling community. The Josh Seltzer Website Award is designed to recognize those who who have a passion for supporting & promoting S scale modeling via a web site on the Internet.

Recipients

The award recipients are:

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