Saturday, December 3rd, members of the Vermont Association of Broadcasters recognized the “Elite Best of the Best” during the 27th Anniversary of the VAB Hall of Fame & Awards Banquet at the Hilton Hotel in Burlington! 

Inspired by the TOP GUN films, 230 guests enjoyed a spectacular night of eating, drinking, socializing and celebrating excellence within Vermont’s radio and television broadcast community.

Hall of Famers Bruce James from VT Broadcast Associates and Tim Johnson from WTSA-AM & FM introduced Major General Gregory Knight who was honored with the “Friends of Broadcasters” award.

Hall of Famer and NBC5 Anchor/Reporter Stewart Ledbetter along with NBC5 Meteorologist Ben Frechette introduced Matt Houseman, Director of Programming for Great Eastern Radio, who accepted the Alan Noyes Community Service Award for Frank FM, Froggy & The Beat’s Stuff-A-Truck Food & Funds Drive to benefit the Salvation Army.

Brian Stevenson from Vermont Public and Jay Barton from WCAX-TV introduced Rising Star Award Winners Kaylee Mumford and Dom Amato respectively.

Hall of Famers Dan Dubonnet and Ginny McGehee from Hall Communications introduced Snyder-Teffner Award Winner Andrea Lammly for excellence behind the scenes as Hall Communications Business Manager for over 30 years. 

WCAX-TV’s News Director Roger Garrity and Assistant News Director Christine Hinkel introduced Roger Lewis who won a Distinguished Service award for his work as a Newscast Director for over 40 years.

Mary Cenci and Kwame Dankwa introduced the Broadcaster of the Year award to WFFF-TV & WVNY-TV, which was accepted by their GM, Alex von Lichtenberg.

We remembered broadcasters who passed away in the last 12 months including VAB Hall of Fame Charter Member Dan Ruggles, Radio Broadcaster Jerry Germain, TV Reporter Catherine Hughes, HR Manager Lindsay Benoit and Radio Broadcaster Craig Ladd, who was also being inducted into the VAB Hall of Fame the same evening. 

Craig Ladd’s wife Linda and daughters Elizabeth and Erica accepted Craig’s induction on his behalf. 

Betty Smith, one of the founders of Vermont Public Radio was the second person to be inducted into the VAB Hall of Fame that evening and Stephen Puffer, owner of WTWN-AM and WYKR-FM was the third.