SCI Recognizes Hall of Fame Award Winner Taz Ridley at 2008 Convention
Reno, Nevada – Safari Club International is pleased to announce that Taz Ridley is the 2008 winner of the prestigious Hall of Fame Award.
Induction into the Safari Club International Hall of Fame may be the most prestigious honor bestowed upon an SCI member. Potential inductees are nominated by SCI members. The Hall of Fame selection committee ranks each nominee based upon the following criteria: history of service to the world hunting community, dedication to Safari Club International’s goals of conservation, protecting the freedom to hunt, and education of the people. Hall of Fame criteria do not include the candidates’ hunting accomplishments. The award is sponsored by Carl Zeiss Optical, Inc.
Taz Ridley has been a dedicated member of SCI serving in a number of capacities. Some of the highlights of his SCI career are as follows. In 1988 the Kansas City chapter awarded Taz with the member of the year and in 1991 he was honored with Outstanding Sportsman, Conservationist and Hunter of the year. SCI awarded him with the Outstanding Member of the Year Award in 1996 followed by the Sables Man of the Year Award in 1999. Taz’s true love is education, and he has served on the SCI Education Committee since 1990. He has been very active in supporting educational programs like the Apprentice Hunter Program.
Taz, along with his wife Dee, have had a positive impact in their community sponsoring Tracks Magazine in several local elementary schools. Taz and Dee regularly share their passion for the outdoors and hunting by giving talks at local elementary schools in conjunction with studies regarding wildlife, utilizing hunting trophies in the classrooms. SCI’s Sportsmen Against Hunger (SAH) program is another one of Taz’s passions, and he has supported the program since it’s inception in 1989. Serving as the organizer and chair of the Annual SAH Handgun Hunt for the last 13 years more than 200,000 pounds of meat have been donated to the hungry. Taz’s passion has taken him beyond education supporting a number of conservation projects including restocking of ruffed grouse in Kansas, and the restocking of pronghorn antelope in Kansas.
The award was conferred upon Ridley during SCI’s 36th Annual Hunters Convention, in Reno, Nevada. “All of us in SCI leadership offer our congratulations to Taz Ridley on this prestigious accomplishment,” said SCI President Dennis Anderson.
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SCI-First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI’s 179 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 13 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.safariclub.org www.safariclub.org/ or call (520) 620-1220 for more information.
