Two of our founding members were Jules and Ruth Ladany. Both Jules and Ruth were very active in bonsai at D. Hill prior to the formation of the Society as it is today. Without the leadership of those two, there may very well been no Society today.

The Ladanys were very generous to the organization in many ways. They not only gave of their time and their thought to the Society, but they also donated money and held many of the early meetings in their home.

When Jules died, Ruth determined that she wanted to have an annual award in Jules' name. The award had basically two requirements. The person had to have devoted time and effort to the advancement of the Midwest Bonsai Society. The person honored had to have kept some bonsai trees in good health and continued growth for a number of years.

This award is a silver bowl on a wooden base. Recipient's names are inscribed on plaques on the base. This silver bowl is given to the honoree for a year. The honoree also gets a smaller replica of the large bowl to keep permanently.

This honor will be presented for the twenty-sixth time at the banquet held Saturday night August 20 at EJ's Place.

Recipients over the years:
Alex Alexander	1979
Les Lange	1980
Charles and Elizabeth Wilson	1981
Stephen Lahuta	1982
Don Willkomm	1983
Alex Alexander	1984
M. P. Voynovich	1985
Ivan A. Watters	1986
E. A. Morris	1987
Kevin Jones	1988
Fran Hiller	1989
Tom Tecza	1990
Kelley Adkins	1991
Jack Fried	1992
Carlos Martinez	1993
Leonard Wegryn	1994
LaLa Pasternak	1995
Elias Fischer	1996
Lorraine May	1997
Shigeo Ito	1998
Don Willkomm	1999
Mary & Sam Himoto	2000
Jack Thompson	2001
Rich Helminiak	2002
Ed & Joann Polley	2003
Steve Snoke	2004