In March, 1965, Sil Horwitz, held a meeting at his home in Springfield, Virginia, to discuss ways and means of organizing a camera club to serve all of Northern Virginia. The meeting was attended by a group of Northern Virginia amateur photographers, Everett Johnson of the Greater Washington Council of Camera Clubs (GWCCC), and Jim Burchfield of the Washington Star. Afterwards, handbills were distributed and notices were placed in local newspapers inviting all interested persons to an organizational meeting at the Richard Byrd Library in Springfield on April 7, 1965. Twenty-two amateur photographers attended the meeting and formed what became the Northern Virginia Camera Club. A few had been members of the former Springfield Camera Club, but many were new to an organized camera club. However, they all shared an interest in developing their photographic skills. The members elected Sil Horwitz president, Ted Kirkham secretary, and Harry White treasurer. A committee was formed to write a constitution, and the new club voted to join the GWCCC and the Photographic Society of America (PSA).

Workshop sessions, which were started in 1973, proved helpful in bridging the gaps between novice and more advanced photographers. In that year several club members volunteered to make themselves proficient in various specialized techniques and to present programs demonstrating those techniques to the membership. Subsequently, the same programs were presented at several other camera clubs in the Washington area.

The classes of competition were expanded in September, 1974. The slide making competition was divided into Novice and Advanced classes, giving the club five classes of competition - two each in monochrome prints and color slides and one in color prints.

During the 1974-1975 season, the Executive Board worked on revising the constitution, by-laws, and rules of competition. They completed the task in mid-May 1975, and the membership ratified the revisions at a regular meeting at the Robinson School on June 4, 1975. The club also voted to change the name to the Northern Virginia Photographic Society.

The following photographer of the year awards are named after members who have made important contributions to our Society.

Sil Horwitz, FPSA was one of the original founders of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society over 33 years ago and, although he has retired to Florida, he remains active in photography and is still exploring new worlds. He is currently the Webmaster for the Photographic Society of America and, for years, has written a column in the PSA Journal on new photographic products. A few years ago, we were honored when Sil came up from Florida to attend NVPS' annual banquet. This was a chance for some of us newer members (only 10 years in the club) to meet Sil personally and hear his views on several subjects. The club was then in an internal debate on digital imaging and manipulation and Sil was very frank with his views on the subject. He was excited about the future possibilities.

This award not only honors its recipient, but also honors Sil for his more than 33 plus years of contributions to amateur fine photography in NVPS, PSA and other groups around the country. (Written by Sherwin Kaplan - FPSA - Fellow of the Photographic Society of America)

C.William Valencourt was a tremendous member of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society. Bill joined NVPS around 1978. In the course of his too brief stay with us he was Workshops Chairman one year, served a term as Vice President for Programs, published FOTOFAX for two years and assisted in its publication almost every year, and spent a couple of years as Secretary/Secretary-Treasurer of the Greater Washington Council of Camera Clubs working to straighten out its books and other affairs. Last, but not least, Bill was President of NVPS in the 1981-82 club year. But, Bill was more than an untiring worker in tasks that were less highly visible. He was always ready to help anyone in any way he could to assure smooth operation of our club, to further its growth, and, in particular to help newcomers to the club and novices in the making of color slides. Because he felt strongly that many of our competition slides could be improved by cropping he held slide mounting workshops on a number of occasions. He supported and participated in most of the field trips held during his membership. After his death there was an outpouring of expression by a number of our members of their appreciation for Bill's help in, (1) learning of the existence of NVPS and the scope of its activities, (2) getting acquainted after they had joined, and (3) improving the quality of their work, particularly in the Novice Color Slide competition category. In view of Bill's service to NVPS and its members and his constant attention to improving the work of our novice color slide makers, the NVPS Executive Board has established the C. William Valencourt Award for Photographer of the Year in Novice Slides. (Written by Greg Gregory)

Note: due to the decline in novice slide entries, the C. William Valencourt Award for Photographer of the Year in Novice Prints. 

C: Ollie Fife, FPSA. Born, Oliver E. Pfeiffer, April 2, 1912, Middleton, Massachusetts. Died June 14, 1996, Alexandria, Virginia. Ollie Fife, as we knew him, worked in the Lawrence textile mills while studying advertising in night school. He moved to New York City after the 1929 Stock Market crash and worked for a Madison Avenue ad agency before finding his niche in freelance photography. In WWII he became a Navy Chief Photographer's Mate and designed and supervised the construction of a photo laboratory on board the aircraft carrier USS Sargent Bay from which he flew aerial photo missions. His career included being a newspaper photographer for the New York Times, Sunday Times & Travel Section, US Camera, Camera, Camera Craft, Ladies Home Journal and the illustrated London News. After the war he moved to Washington, DC, where he worked for the State Department, and as a writer/photographer covered the White House, Capitol Hill, and the Embassies. For the USIA International Press Service as a staff photographer he documented State Visits of the Queen of England; the King of Belgium; the Crown Prince of Japan; Soviet Premier Khrushchev; Prime Minister Nehru; French President DeGaulle; the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg; the Emir of Kuwait; and scores of other foreign presidents, vice-presidents, and prime ministers as well as cultural and artistic groups. He retired from the USIA in 1976 after more than 25 years of service. In retirement he traveled extensively in the U.S. and abroad pursuing his lifelong interest in photography. Ollie was a Fellow of the Photographic Society of America and active in many of its activities, among which he was Photojournalism Division News Editor for many years, wrote numerous articles and lectured and presented programs at PSA meetings and conventions. He assisted many NVPS members and conducted programs and judged photographic competitions for area clubs. Ollie brought honor to the Northern Virginia Photographic Society by his presence. (Written by Lynn Maniscalco)

• David E. Carter - President's Award
• Joe Atchison Award - For Outstanding Service to NVPS

1965 - 1966	Sil Horwitz		1991 - 1992	Ed Funk
1966 - 1967	Ken Murray		1992 - 1993	Zanne Tillman
1967 - 1968	Harry White		1993 - 1994	Josh Taylor
1968 - 1969	Bob Crosby		1994 - 1995	Carolyn O'Connor
1969 - 1970	Lars Janson		1995 - 1996	Andy Klein
1970 - 1971	Newell Terry		1996 - 1997	Jim Wood
1971 - 1972	John Attinello		1997 - 1997	Katrina Marsha (09/97-10/97) Resigned (Moved to Atlanta)
1972 - 1973	Royal Burkhardt		1997 - 1998	Janis Higdon 11/97-06/97
1973 - 1974	Alan lsicson		1998 - 1999	Frank Mertes
1974 - 1975	Bill Hezlep		1999 - 2000	Wayne Wolfersberger
1975 - 1976	Tom Hady		2000 - 2001	Chuck Veatch
1976 - 1977	Jim Steele		2001 - 2002	Joe Miller
1977 - 1978	Joe Stroske		2002 - 2003	Janis Boyce
1978 - 1979	Greg Gregory		2003 - 2004	Mary Ann Setton
1979 - 1980	Kathy Steele		2004 - 2005	Carl Zelman
1980 - 1981	Glen Ohmund		2005 - 2006	Ralph Edwards
1981 - 1982	Bill Valencourt		2006 - 2007	Sam Schaen
1982 - 1983	Dave Naley		2007 - 2008	Scott Musson
1983 - 1984	Esta Gladstone		2008 - 2009	Tom Brett
1984 - 1985	Erwin Siegel
1985 - 1986	Brice Harbert
1986 - 1987	Dave Carter
1987 - 1988	Gretchen Kolsrud
1988 - 1989	Fred Siskind
1989 - 1990	Craig Wineman
1990 - 1991	Sherwin Kaplan

Tell us what you believe were significant events/decisions since June 1975.