Tony Wise Birkie Spirt Award 2025 presented to Jane Bidwell and Marcia Engebretson

 

At the Birchleggings Annual Awards Breakfast on February 23, 2025, Jane Bidwell and Macia Engebretson were presented with the Tony Wise Birkie Spirit Award for 2025 for all their work in supporting volunteers at the American Birkebeiner. The award was presented by Steve Carmazon, Birchleggings Club Board Member.

Jane and Marcia started the Bidwell Engebretson Tusen Takk Legacy Volunteer Fund several years ago. This is some information from the Birkie website:

In Norwegian, Tusen Takk means “a thousand thanks,” and if there was ever a group for whom we should all give thanks, it is our dedicated Birkie volunteers. Without their energy and commitment, there simply couldn’t be the year-round slate of Birkie events for all to enjoy. Last year, 3894 Birkie volunteers worked to make our events successful. Tusen Takk!

This is an opportunity for all Birkie participants to celebrate the ABSF’s volunteers by supporting the Bidwell Engebretson Tusen Takk Volunteer Fund. Managed by the Foundation for the Endowment of the American Birkebeiner, the income from this fund will endow the future of the ABSF’s volunteer program for years to come. From bibs, jackets, and volunteer participant gifts, to appreciation celebrations, recruitment & retention programs, as well as communication tools and training, the goal is to endow all volunteer related expenses in the future by means of the Bidwell Engebretson Tusen Takk Volunteer Fund.

Jane Bidwell and Marcia Engebretson, long-time Birkie participants and volunteers themselves, graciously donated funds to seed and create the Tusen Takk Volunteer Fund. Bidwell and Engebretson believe volunteers are the most important element in the Birkie’s success. We couldn’t agree more.

Donors who want to support a well-recognized and long-standing need are encouraged to donate to the Tusen Takk Volunteer Fund and support Birkie volunteers both now and in the future.

Donors making a gift of $1,000 or more will also become de facto members of the Birkie Legacy Circle of the Endowment. All Birkie Legacy Circle members wear race day bibs with the distinctive gold Birkie Legacy Circle shield logo.