Conditions for Nomination

In the year 2001, the Council of the Victoria Centre of the RASC established the Newton Ball Award to recognize the achievements of Centre members who have given exemplary service to the Centre’s objectives and its membership. The award is named after two Centre members, Jack Newton and George Ball, for their valuable contributions to the Centre over many years. The award is presented at the Annual General Meeting.

Term of Membership

The nominee shall have been a member of the RASC for a minimum of five consecutive years.

Definition of Service

“Service” means any type of activity by a member that has benefited all members of the Victoria Centre in general. Personal achievements in the field of astronomy shall not constitute eligibility for this award.

Recognition of Past Service

Members who are not currently active in the Centre due to age, infirmity, or some other reason, shall be eligible for nomination in recognition of past service which has formerly gone unrecognized.

Status of Nominees

Any person nominated for the Newton Ball Award shall be a member in good standing in the RASC.

Acceptance of Nominations

At a regular meeting held in either December and/or January, or as solicited by email, Council will accept written nominations from the membership. All nominations shall be taken into consideration by Council when deciding who shall be the recipient of the award. Send nominations to our Past President email.

Judicial Authority of Council

A majority vote of Council will decide the winner with the President¹s vote breaking a tie. The Council may decide, at its sole discretion, not to make an award in any one year if it is judged by Council that none of the nominations qualify.

Term of Re-eligibility

Any person presented with the award shall not be eligible to be awarded it again until five years after the anniversary of the previous award.

Recipients

  • 2001 – Dr. James E Hesser
  • 2002 – Mr. Sid Sidhu
  • 2003 – Mr. Bill Almond
  • 2004 – Mr. Don Dundee
  • 2005 – Ms. Sandra Barta
  • 2006 – Mr. Bruno Quenneville
  • 2007 – Mr. David Lee
  • 2008 – Mr. Joe Carr
  • 2009 – Mr. Scott Mair
  • 2010 – Mr. Chris Gainor
  • 2011 – Dr. W. John McDonald
  • 2012 – Ms. Sherry Buttnor
  • 2013 – Ms. Lauri Roche
  • 2014 – Mr. Mark Bohlman and Dr. Paul Schumacher
  • 2015 – Mr. Malcolm Scrimger
  • 2016 – Mr. Nelson Walker
  • 2017 – Mr. Dan Posey and Mr. Matt Watson
  • 2018 – Mr. Reg Dunkley
  • 2019 – Mr. Michel Michaud
  • 2020 – Mr. Chris Purse
  • 2021 – Mr. Bruce Lane
  • 2022 – Ms. Deb Crawford
  • 2023 – Mr. Alex Schmid
  • 2024 – Mr. Sid Sidhu
  • 2025 – Mr. Randy Enkin