CHAIR’S AWARD RECIPIENT
Presented by Harlan Kerr
The Chairs Award is somewhat unique in that it is sole the choice of the current chair and used to honor those who have done an outstanding job of contributing to CALLERLAB and square dancing in general. The choice is purely up to the chair and the main limitation is that the award goes to someone not on the Board of Governors. This award was originated by the great Jon Jones with intent of honoring those who do so much important work, often quietly out of the limelight.
This year’s recipient has a long and impressive history of calling and serving both CALLERLAB and the greater square dance community. The recipient began square dancing in 1990 and at the same time became very involved in country western dancing. In 1991 this recipient went on to take up calling under the mentorship of her local club caller the great Bill Eyler. The recipient immediately displayed a natural skill for calling and soon was quite successful and well known. Over the years, the recipient has called several clubs, taught classes from beginners through C2, assisted with caller’s schools, and also has taken up Contra calling.
This recipient calls locally, regionally, and nationally. She is a Member of New Mexico State Callers and Cuers Association and has served on the board of the Albuquerque Folk Festival.
The recipient has been honored in many ways over the years: she received the IAGSDC Golden Boot Award, 1997, past president of New Mexico Central District Callers Association, past president of the GCA, past president and lifetime member of the Albuquerque Square Dance Center, and in 2018 she was inducted into the New Mexico Square and Round Dance Association Hall of Fame.
Our recipient has severed on many CALLERLAB committees over the years often as vice chair, and is a regular presenter at CALLERLAB conventions on multiple topics. One of the most amazing contributions of this recipient is the work she has done in collaboration with Barry Clasper on the CALLERLAB KnowledgeBase.
In 2020 the KnowledgeBase underwent a dramatic improvement. Using her knowledge and technical skills the system for categorizing and classifying information was streamlined, the presentation of content was changed to make it more efficient, consistent, and mobile-friendly, and the search mechanism performance vastly improved.
Every article was reformatted, and the Knowledge Base was moved to new servers under the callerlab.org domain. None of this would have happened without the expertise, knowledge, and hard work that Kris Jensen brought to the table. Not only is she skilled in web technology and programming, but her natural organization and logical thinking contributed immensely to the new look and new facilities in the KnowledgeBase.
The following is a direct quote from Barry: “For years the KnowledgeBase was a one-man band. When Kris joined the team, she definitely proved the adage that two heads are better than one. In fact, when one of those heads is Kris Jensen, two heads are better than two.”
And so it is with profound respect for all that she has done for CALLERLAB and Square Dancing that I present the 2023 Chairs Award to the amazing, talented, and generous Kris Jensen.