[ Home Page ] [Officers/Directors][President's Message][Membership Application][Constitution/Bylaws][Benefits]
[Schools][Job Listings][Committees][Recognition][Photographs][Calendar][References][Pro Bono][FPR Protocols]
[Equipment Mart][State Association Websites]

2007 EMILY MANN DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD - Paulita Kundid
Presented by Rick Greenspan, 2006 EM DSA Recipient

Before I present the Emily Mann Distinguished Service Award, I’d like to share with you a poem written by Will Allen Dromgoole:

The Bridge Builder

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide –
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth, whose feet must pass this way,
This chasm that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”

You might ask, what does this poem have to do with our Emily Mann Distinguished Service Award recipient? The Emily Mann Award is bestowed upon someone with exceptional qualifications and experience in the field of court reporting, someone who has given selflessly to our association and our profession – someone who is a bridge builder.

This year’s recipient is not one to enjoy being in the spotlight; in fact, when the recipient finds out that we are honoring them today, they will probably be very uncomfortable, for they much prefer to fly under the radar, all the while helping whenever and wherever they can – building that bridge. They see the big picture, and never passes up an opportunity to work for the advancement of FCRA and court reporters as a whole, whether it be fighting for court reporting issues in Tallahassee or mentoring a young reporter – always building that bridge.

The recipient has been a court reporter since the 70’s and has been a firm owner for over a decade. The recipient is dearly loved by the reporters, the association, clients, and the judiciary because they are a consummate professional – someone of strong principles, ethics, with an extreme sense of fairness. Many have benefited from the bridges built.

For FCRA, the recipient has served in the positions of director all the way up through president. She currently serves on the panel for the FPR Exam, helping others cross the bridge to becoming FPRs. She is a past recipient of the FCRA Pro Bono Award and the President’s Award. For NCRA she serves currently as the chair of the electronic recording task force, a member of the judicial advocacy task force, the technology evaluation committee, which I have the pleasure of serving on with her. She has also had the distinction of having served on the the national association’s nominating committee. And next week, in Tampa, she will be part of a group of NCRA representatives at the Court Technology Conference 10.

We all are bridge crossers, benefiting from the selfless people that have come before us and made our patheasier. You, Paulita Kundid, are a bridge builder. Because of your commitment to our association and tireless dedication to this profession, we are a stronger and better association, and you have made a difference to all those who come behind. It is for this reason we are so very proud to honor you today.

As a surprise to Paulita, some of her friends and colleagues who couldn’t be here with us today have passed on their congratulations to her on this special award through this video.

VIDEO PLAYED

It is with great pleasure that I present to you our 2007 Emily Mann Distinguished Service Award Recipient – Paulita Kundid.