I am pleased to announce the winner of the 1999 FML Ferret Hero Award:
 
Bill Gruber, aka BIG, our illustrious moderator!
 
It was a close race, and I want to thank everyone who participated.  Many
people commented on how difficult it was to choose just one person, since
all the nominees and so many others are deserving of recognition.  While I
agree completely, that makes it even more important for us to find a way to
start recognizing the contributions these heroes have made to our lives,
and more importantly, to our ferrets.
 
It is fitting that BIG wins this first Hero award.  Without the FML, many
of us would know far less about ferrets, and just as bad, we would know far
fewer of each other.  We have all made wonderful friends via this list.
We have learned about how to care for our fuzzy companions, learned how
to protect their rights, learned about the newest medical breakthoughs,
learned how to teach others about them, and so on.
 
Bill, I have the honor of being the first to congratulate you on winning
this award and to thank you for your heroic service to ferretkind.
 
Linda Iroff
Oberlin OH
 
PS Phil Eisermann and Julie Dowdy are assisting me in the design of an
award plaque, which will be sent to BIG.  (Donations to help cover its
cost are still welcome, contact me for info.)
 
[Moderator's note: Wow... thank you all very much.  I'm honored.  And if
we do this again this year, I propose last year's winner be disqualified
from this year's contest... and perhaps we have categories with a winner
in each category.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 2917]