2021 Distinguished Service Award Presented to Patrick E. Foppe – Fritz R. Damm

Presentation by Fritz R. Damm

This Distinguished Service Award has a long and storied history. Tonight I want to tell you about some of that history and why this year’s awardee is the best choice possible. Please know that the eight pages I have in my hand are not part of my presentation but are rather the recipient’s firm bio. Let me start by introducing past winners attending this very conference, starting in 1983: Mark Andrews, Bill Taylor, Kenny Ray Hoffman, Greg Summy, Brian Smith, Pat McMonigle, Kathleen Jeffries, Steve Novy, Don Vogel, Eric Zalud, Wes Chused, Gordon McAuley, Dick Westley, Frank Botta, Marc Blubaugh, Carlos Sesma Sr., Gordon Hearn, Hillary Booth, Brian Del Gatto, Sam Hallman, Jeff Simmons, Steve Canty, Louis Amato-Gauci, Dirk Beckwith, Eric Benton, Katherine Garber, Chris Kelly, Allen Jones, John Wilcox, Bridgette Blitch, Gene Zipperle, and Steve Uthoff. These members have and continue to set excellent examples of outstanding “active” membership with the Transportation Lawyers Association. Learn from them as they are proven winners.

Many of you know these past “winners” and why they were so nicely recognized. However, for those of you here tonight—and those members who will read about it in the next issue of The Transportation Lawyer—who do not know what it takes to get involved within our beloved TLA, I will give you my fast “take” on what it could involve.

As so many of you have learned either from me on our “welcome calls” or from other mentors, TLA is wide open to getting all members involved. One must only raise your hand to do committee work, to work on seminars/webinars, and/or to write for TTL. Please do not be bashful. For example, I first met Jeremy Handschuh about 10 years ago in Atlanta, and it took him less than 5 years to become co-chair of the litigation committee. Patrick Foppe joined TLA in 2013 and very soon thereafter became stellar Vice-Chair of Membership and Recruiting. Bridgette Blitch raised her hand early on to get involved in various aspects of TLA, including her continued work on student scholarships. These are good examples of how to enjoy, appreciate, and make the most of your membership. We all know that we get out of any endeavor what we put into it, and TLA is no exception. Use all of these folks as great examples of how to make TLA a better place for all members.

This year, it is my privilege and honor to tell you about a true winner.

This person exemplifies getting involved by initially signing up in 2013 for three committees of interest. While participating in two of the three, the third was a starring role! When asked to do a task, the answer was always “sure.” Success came about through strong participation that resulted in learning about how TLA “works.” Being innovative came easy once the knowledge was there to assist in the committee’s mission.

The saying “If you want to get something done, ask a busy person” truly applies to this Distinguished Service Award winner. This litigator works with an outstanding Midwest firm in a very busy practice, but if you ask for any task within their territory, rest assured it will be taken care of by the recipient. This person is a prime example of being a business getter because of doing a great job on non-billable endeavors, which are many in addition to TLA and include strong and active involvement in DRI’s Trucking Law Committee. A prime example of this hard work is the setting up of special invitations (hundreds) to other similar organizations to attend our TLIs and the Chicago Regional Seminar.

What does our winner do in possible spare time besides hike, cook Easter carrot cake, workout, do Bible study and be the best dad possible to seven great children ranging from Caroline, who just turned 16, to last but certainly not least Veronica? We are indeed lucky that Father’s Day was last weekend so our winner is with us tonight with his wonderful wife, Katie. If I had my way, all of his children would be here to help us celebrate giving the Distinguished Service Award to my super pal, Vice-Chair of the Membership and Recruiting Committee, and super TLA member Patrick Foppe!