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The Tie That Binds

The intent in passing the “Tie” was to foster a sense of community, inclusion, fun and fraternity within our industry and IECA.—Dan Waldman, Publisher, Erosion Control Journal

The Recipients

Neil Reinecker, Branchburg, New Jersey, USA, prior to 1996.
Toney Driver, Moscow, Idaho, USA, received “Tie” from Reinecker at Seattle, WA, in 1996.
Dan Waldman, Santa Barbara, California, USA, received “Tie” from Driver at Nashville, TN, in 1997.
Eric Scherer, Windsor, Connecticut, USA received “Tie” from Waldman at Reno, NV, in 1998.
Rick Granard, Granada Hills, California, USA, received the “Tie” from Scherer at Nashville,TN, in 1999. Rick passed away on 2/27/2000, about the time he would have passed “Tie” on. The Granard family returned “Tie” to IECA’s Ben Northcutt.
Doug Wimble, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, received “Tie” from Granard (via Peterson) at the Las Vegas, NV, opening session in 2001.
Gayle Mitchell, Athens, Ohio, USA, received “Tie” from Wimble at Orlando, FL, in 2002.
John Peterson, Burke, Virginia, USA, received the “Tie” from Mitchell (via Ben Northcutt) at the Dallas, TX, closing session in 2005.
C.R.R. Varma, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala State, India, received the "Tie" from Peterson at Long Beach, CA in 2006.

The original owner of the “Tie” was Neil Reinecker.

At the IECA Conference in Nashville in 1997, Dan Waldman ran into Toney Driver and Neil Reinecker chatting. Toney was wearing one of the most flamboyant ties Dan had seen, and Dan had some fun letting him know that. Unknown to Dan, Toney had been given the “Tie” by Neil at the 1996 Conference in Seattle. Neil was standing there while Dan was teasing Toney.

Also unknown to Dan, a year earlier (1996) Neil was wearing that same tie, and Toney had made similar comments as Dan. So, as a joke, Neil took the “Tie” off and gave it to Toney with the stipulation that it be worn the next year and passed on to the one who commented most about the “Tie.”

Toney then wore the “Tie” to the conference in 1997. After Dan’s smart-alec comments about the “Tie” to Toney in front of Neil, Toney gave the “Tie” to Dan and suggested he wear it to the conference in Reno the next year, 1998. At the 1998 IECA conference in Reno, NV, Dan gave the “Tie” to Eric Scherer.

Thus, an IECA tradition was born, passing along The Tie That Binds Us.

Eric then presented it to Rick Granard in 1999, recognizing Rick’s IECA contributions over time. Rick passed away in 2000 and Erosion Control Journal enlisted Mike Harding to write something about him, thus Mike wrote the article on the “Tie” and Rick that appeared as the Jan/Feb 2001 Erosion Control “Tie” editorial. Rick's family passed the "Tie" back to IECA and Executive Director Ben Northcutt.

At the February 2001 conference opening session, as IECA President, John Peterson had the honor of presenting the “Tie” to Doug Wimble, probably the first presentation before the entire IECA audience at a North American conference.

Doug then presented the “Tie” to Gayle Mitchell at the annual conference at Orlando in 2002. Gayle’s Erosion Control Journal article was printed in Mar/Apr 04 and she indicated that she had received the award almost two years earlier, which would have been 2002. John Peterson then was the recipient from Gayle in 2005. There was no recipient in 2000, 2003 and 2004.

The current holder of the “Tie” has always selected the next recipient. The Tie has become a nice metaphor for those things that connect our industry, association, and members together, Dan Waldman said. As Eric Sherer said in his Tie editorial, the Tie has been passed along from one professional colleague to another, demonstrating friendship, respect, and camaraderie. John Peterson also noted in his letter to Varma the recipients have been untiring promoters of IECA throughout the world in their business, professional, and private travels.

The following “Tie” recipients and others have written editorials on The Tie That Binds Us for the Erosion Control Journal:

Eric Scherer, March, 1999
Mike Harding on Rick Granard, January/February, 2001
Doug Wimble, January/February, 2002
Gayle Mitchell, March/April, 2004
John Peterson, March/April, 2005

One final note. The original intent in passing the “Tie” was to foster a sense of community, inclusion, fun and fraternity within our industry and IECA, Dan Waldman said. It should be passed along every year in that spirit. It should not always go to IECA officers, Board members, or men, and should always go to an IECA member. While the presentation does not have to be very formal, it reminds IECA members of the tradition if it is presented at a conference general session. It would be nice if that continued. As Toney Driver said, What a wonderful tradition. Who would have ever thought that camaraderie among friends could become a tradition like this? I think it is wonderful.

Dan Waldman, President of Forester Communications, the publishers of the Erosion Control Magazine, encouraged the “guest editorials” by “Tie” recipients. Currently, those draft editorials are due at the Erosion Control Magazine editorial offices about the middle of November in advance of the year the “Tie” is awarded, which usually happens in February. The “Tie” itself is LOUD and fun, and the art director plays it up when designing that page in the magazine.

Written October 14, 2005 by John Peterson, PE, CPESC. Thanks to past “Tie” recipients Eric Scherer and particularly Dan Waldman and Toney Driver for assisting with this history.