Mike LaVoie (Perseverance) Award

"……..for unusual dedication to pool"

(established Spring 1974)

During the Spring '74 season, this award was established to honor individual contributions to our League. Although the earliest recipients may have been honored for somewhat more humorously connected events, they were still recognized for their "unusual dedication to pool." It evolved to be more closely identified with an "unusual dedication to the League."

Nominees for this honor are submitted by the membership to our Board of Governors for their consideration and a vote. Although this award remains an option to be given to one of our members, it has essentially been retired and replaced by the Marvin Beisel Award. However, in no way is this meant to diminish the essential contributions of the previous recipients.  We continue to honor and thank them by listing their names and the season they were recognized.

•(died the morning of the Awards Banquet at Griff's)

Ladies and Gentlemen and Friends of the Los Angeles Pool League,
 
The family of Frank Bustamante just called to  inform us that Frank passed away this evening due to the most recent complications of his Leukemia. He suffered a mild heart attack earlier this week and contracted pneumonia.

David Boyd and I continue to be in direct contact with the family and they will advise the particulars of any services. With permission from the BOG, I will also arrange for a comprehensive obituary written on behalf of our League.

We certainly wish to provide this information and any address that would facilitate letters of condolence to his extended family.

On a personal note, I am grateful to the League Board of Governors, the Frank Bustamante Tribute Committee (Janell McKane, David Boyd, Angelo Pacella and Bill Hoover) for supporting David and I in our effort to arrange the event which afforded the large group of joyous friends that came to say goodbye to him on December 15th.

At present, we have no further details regarding time, date or location of any service.

4/5/2010 Follow Up from Jeffrey Hersh who has handled all the details and expenses to honor Frank publicly: 

The following notice has been placed in the Los Angeles Times running this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (April 9-11,2010)

Marvin Beisel Award

"…..for unusual dedication to the League"

(established Spring 1985)

The Marvin Beisel Award was established by a unanimous vote of the Captains at the Spring 1985 Registration Meeting. The honor is accorded to that member of the League who has, in the opinion of the Board of Governors, exhibited an "unusual dedication to the L.A. Pool League." Formerly known as the Mike LaVoie Award, it was renamed in Marvin's honor. Historically, nominations are submitted in writing by the membership during the regular season to the President. A vote of the Board, by secret ballot, is generally held immediately prior to the Awards Banquet.

The award honors Marvin for his extraordinary contributions. At the time, he had served an unprecedented six terms as "Secretary" (now called "President" to be consistent with our West Coast Challenge member Leagues), designed our official logo, constructed the format of our weekly standings, and established the GUIDE in Spring 1982 providing us with the first six editions. His column in DATA BOY titled "Cues Nues" ran for more than three years providing news of League events and a host of humorous anecdotes.  As our League historian, he preserved our records and conducted research on missing information.

He was presented with the Mike LaVoie Award twice, the Sportsmanship Award and four Special Recognition Awards.

The membership acknowledged that his standard of excellence could be preserved in perpetuity by naming the League's most prestigious service award in his honor.

With the League experiencing a normal evolution of its membership, the newer players may not be aware of Marvin's prior contributions. With this award, we strive to perpetuate his towering legacy.

Since the establishment of this award, the Governors have selected the following 13 recipients:

Pictures of former recipients: