Congratulations David Hodgkins, 2012 Robert Feddersen Memorial Award winner!

[Randy Jones]

Hi all,

We just got back from the FFR Open House after a fantastic time and wanted to make sure I posted right away about David Hodgkins winning this year's Robert Feddersen memorial award.

David was strongly nominated for many reasons but a few of them were:

He has been a die hard advocate and full brother member of this community since before he even had a kit. Back then, he went by CNGreen.

Seemingly right from the start, David was at many build parties that were within driving distance of him. He hosted some of his own and has been an advocate and promoter of them all over the country when the need arises.

During the lean years when FFR was going through their belt tightening and defending themselves legally, David essentially took the Huntington Beach show under his wing and with a small group, made sure that show didn't die out.

He reads every post here (or nearly) and posts to many of them tirelessly and has a never ending enthusiasm for the community and the folks he calls friends and brothers.

Please join me in congratulating David for being this years winner!

R

[Olli]

From L-R; Julie Jones, Randy Jones, David Hodgkins, Dave Smith

[Ray]

Outstanding person and the award couldn't find a better home.

Ray

[Someday I Suppose]

David, congratulations again buddy, well deserved for sure, and extra cool that you were able to come out and be at the open house to get the award in person. I also think its pretty cool that I got to have your company on the ride in from the hotel, even if you barely fit in the passenger seat of a roadster :-)

-Scott

[Sean Nederfield]

Dave's,
Congratulations again!!
It was also very nice to meet you.

Sean & Jen

[Jeff Collins]

Great Choice Congratulations on the prestigious and well deserved honor.

[Raceral]

Good job.

[riptide motorsport]

Well deserved......congrats.

[vnmsss]

Congratulations David!!! A very special award for a very special person!!!

Karen

[Garry Bopp]

David,

Way to go! Well deserved award.

Garry

[frankeeski]

David, I aspire to be like you, Karen, Paul, and Robert, with great difficulty I might add. You exemplify, just as those before you, just what this award is all about. You single-handedly kept the Factory Five candle burning out here on the west coast when Factory Five simply could not be here. You moderate the forum with a cool head and don't let personal feelings dictate with you dealings here. You are a great friend and one heck of a father and husband. Congratulations my brother, well deserved!

[Mike N]

Not to forget David's hard work in getting this particular forum up and running smoothly on a day to day basis.

David, congratulations on the award, you absolutely deserve it.

[skullandbones]

Excellent, David! Wondered when you would get that well deserved recognition. As mentioned above, the day to day stuff is important and never goes away. So enjoy while you can and then get back to work! lol, WEK.

[Russ Thompson]

Congratulation David, well deserved!

[Hankl]

Congratulations David!!!

Hank

[ehansen007]

Absolutely well deserved. Way to Dave.

[Mad Dog]

Congratulations Dave! Great talking with you at Open House.



P.S. - Still waiting for my interview...

[Jacob McCrea]

Well deserved indeed. I can't imagine how much time it takes to moderate this forum and make that contribution to the community. Congratulations!

[VeniceCobra]

Congratulations David, I applause your great work and your good sense of community, Bravo!

[Vicki1]

Gee David,
I never knew you were this nice a guy! Keep up the good work.
John and Victoria Tongish

[David Hodgkins]

…just almost every post.

I don’t think I said anything into the mike at the open house. What a missed opportunity. But I knew in that moment that I couldn’t sum up how much it meant to me.

And I was in shock.

Robert Fedderson, for those who don’t know, was a shining example of paying it forward. He took what he knew about computers and turned it into a teaching position. Likewise, he took the lessons he learned from building his car and started showing up at build parties, joining a pack of guys in So Cal who love to cruise and look for something to build. He was an extraordinary build buddy who, for example, drove hours from his home in the high desert, to help Kouros wire his car. Robert and Kouros became friends after meeting on the forums. He helped Kouros with other areas of the build too, on more than a few occasions. Robert came to at least 2 of my build parties. Randy Jones, who lives in New York, became good friends with Robert, to the point where their families started visiting each other - on opposite sides of the country - during vacations. Robert was like that with everyone he met in our community. Easy going, incredibly funny sometimes, and always ready to lend a hand. His passing was devastating, and was the first one of too many since then in my neck of the woods. Paul “Cannonball Cobra” Mastroianni and Andy Salvaggio were two more guys that were more than happy to lend a hand to a build when needed. They were all cut from the same cloth. And all 3 were taken too soon.

As for me, I do try to pay it forward. But that hardly makes me unique in our community. I’m just one of a big group of folks who have found joy and fellowship - two unexpected gifts - along with new skills to build our own car on these forums. Folks like Karen Salvaggio, a tireless promoter of all things Factory Five; and Greg Marsh, who self organized and worked to finish Don Voorhis' car so that Don would get the chance to drive and enjoy his car before he passed.

It’s in that spirit that I say thank you. Thanks to Bill Pierce for setting up FFCobra.com and setting the tone for our community. Plus, a special thank you to Dave and Mark Smith. Without Factory Five, I wouldn’t have the beast that I and literally thousands of my new buddies built sitting in my garage. (Hey, you can get advice from a LOT of people when you take 6 years to complete a build!)

Finally: Randy, you da man. Thanks for your efforts to promote community. You're another of those who GETS IT.

[Cameron Autosports]

Great Job David. Well deserved.
John

[Vman7]

There for a while I used to think David was a cyber generated entity, since it seemed like everytime I came on to check on threads etc., no matter what time of day it was, David H. was always logged on........lol either that or he was hooked up to an intravenous feeding of caffeine......lol

Well Done David, keep up the great work!!

[Mesa Mike]

Way to go David.

[68GT500MAN]

Congratulations to a tireless promoter of FFR and the community.
Dave