Howie was the bearest bear who ever did bear. To say his run as MAA was legendary would honestly be doing it a disservice. For a good portion of our active membership, Howie is the MAA. Many of them never even witnessed the dark, chaotic days before his ascension, when approvals wandered the land aimlessly, and the screams of confused GMs echoed through the halls.

And yet, Howie spent much of his time in the role working toward the day it wouldn’t need to exist anymore. Not only did he help build the systems that made that possible, but he also insisted on being the one to finally sunset the position himself. To build something up, refine it, perfect it—and then voluntarily eliminate your own job for the good of the club? That’s the kind of thing that just doesn’t happen.

Along the way, he also did some yelling, fixing, approving, yelling, denying, yelling, improving the club, yelling, reviewing things at alarming speeds, yelling, and let me check my notes… Oh yes. Also, some yelling.

Now, while there might have been a healthy amount of yelling directed at idiots (every GM ever), I never quite bought into the reputation some people had about the ol’ bear being scary or hard to work with. Sure, the voice could boom, and the standards could be high, but the reality was always simple: Howie cared deeply about doing things right. I’ve fought with him on more than a few things myself over the years, but never once was it because he was stubborn for the sake of it. Every stance he took came from a genuine belief that it was the right call for the club. And if something didn’t quite land? Improve it. Make the case. Bring a better solution. The bear respected results.

Add to that his almost frightening turnaround time on approvals, his constant evaluation of how the club operated, and his relentless work to improve systems across the board. Processes were tightened, expectations were clarified, and the overall quality of the club steadily rose.

Which makes the reality of the MAA role finally disappearing a strange one. For so long, it was synonymous with Howie himself that it’s going to take a while for it to fully sink in. The bear was a constant presence: a stalwart force, an unrelenting bastion of willpower, a defender of standards, and yes, a stealer of many bones.

After everything he’s done, the bear has more than earned both his rest and this award.

Howie, I remember when you were Chancellor and that position was combined. Now that MAA has been combined with DGM, allow me to congratulate you on your eventual fulfillment of DGM where the new Bear Cave will be.

Your steadfast leadership and guidance have ensured countless generations (cause generations in the DB is ~6 months) have learned and managed awarding our members in a fair and consistent manner. As such, they’re better leaders and stronger at being able to express their rationale for why people have earned their awards - even with the inclusion of XP into the DB system.

I look forward to seeing how you contribute amongst the general population now that you’re paroled!

This seems Krathy so I'll keep it short.

Good work. Go get meat and cheese as a reward.

I’m going to keep it simple.

Howie was MAA for a long time. He was a good MAA. Bear is hard to kill.

He was consistent. His measuring stick didn’t change. Bear is wise.

He was quick on the button. Bear is speed.

He is fun. Howie made me feel welcomed when I joined the DC. I’ll miss sharing food pictures with him. Bear is friend shaped.

Good bear. Best bear.

At this point, the bear is a legend. The yelling, the food pics, the fierce protectiveness of “his” roster. As a young consul I learned very quickly that while Howie held high standards and held those standards even when it wasn’t popular to do so he wasn’t stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. The secret to Howie, one that I tried to pass on to generations of younger leaders I mentored, is that he’s persuadable. The bear is not to be feared. The remand wasn’t the end of the conversation, it was the beginning of one and it usually resulted from not adequately making your case or answering that tough but necessary question of “okay, so what did they actually do?”

I yelled at Howie a lot over the years, but I always respected him. His principles are unshakable, so much so that his life’s work was to slowly but surely remove himself from the equation when it came to the operation of the MAA office. Howie was also a bulwark against groupthink on the council, when he was in dissent he forced all of us to sharpen our arguments, tighten up our plans and overall make things clearer and better for the general membership. He set not only a high bar for service and professionalism within his office but will leave a massive bear-shaped hole on the council.

I hope the bear enjoys his well-earned rest and eventually wanders back into a unit. There’s a whole generation of young nubs out there that would benefit from his bear wisdom.

On behalf of the council and the club please accept this salmon and belly rubs for a job well done. Oh and some shiny thing too.

A time of change is upon us; the hallowed halls of the Council are just a little quieter and a lot colder without the Bear shouting at us, but the lessons he taught will always remain. Howie has been a fixture, and he has hissed at me more often than not about fixing my recommendations, competitions, and reminding me to send emails instead of DMs for anything official. The perennial beareaucrat, Howie was never one to stand down on matters of procedure and made sure that when anyone came with an argument, it was about more than feelings and reflected the future health of the club.

I learned quickly as a member, as a leader, and again as a councilor, that Howie is a very personable man, despite his loud exterior. He has always been here to help us and give a guiding hand. Where we go from here, sans Bear, is uncharted territory, but wherever it is, there will be a lot more public discussion of food, beer, and cheese!

Enjoy the time off, Old Man Bear!