Dr. Batorious:  And now, back after moonlighting as a lamp landlord, to present the Golden Acorn for Rookie of the Year, here is Mr. Jeff Pierce...

::Jeff emerges from stage left, cricking his neck as he walks to the podium at center stage::

JP: Boy, talk about living in a shoebox! And you wouldn't believe what that guy has in that lamp of his --!

::Genie appears again in a puff of smoke and hovers menacingly over Jeff's right shoulder::

JP: Gulp! Er, right then! Never mind that, let's get to the award, shall we?

::Genie nods, and disappears:: *poof*

::Jeff sighs with relief, and reads the teleprompter::

JP: The award of Rookie of the Year goes to the Rangerphile who, having joined the online community at the Acorn Cafe over the past 365 (or so) days, has contributed the most to the community, either through community support, creative efforts, or just being one of the best and most energetic members of our collective fandom. Previous winners include Rennod, Fish, Pupspals, and most recently in 2005, Toni.

This past year, the online Ranger community has grown tremendously, and many new members have made their mark to such an extent that they have been recognized for Rookie of the Year honors. They are as follows:

Midnight Man!

Stian!

Alain!

Severe Weather Eddie!

Tamira!

Rye!

Master MunkArt!

And RangerReady23!

::Jeff pulls out the envelope, opens it, and reads the contents::

JP: And without further ado, the 2006 Golden Acorn for Rookie of the Year goes to…two! Midnight Man and Master_Munkart,  c'mon up here and get your award!

::Midnight comes up on stage::

Midnight: Golly, yet another award... Well, what shall I say? Other than you folks will probably never quit surprising me? I did not expect this one, not at all. And although it's indeed a good way to raise someone's self-esteem, it's almost way too much of an honor for me. Among all Golden Acorn Awards, Rookie of the Year is one of the highest honors a Rangerphile can receive, maybe even higher than Best Writer or Best Artist.

 

For Rookie of the Year is not only about what you did in one particular field, it's about, well, everything. Not the artist is awarded, not the writer, not the webmaster, not the song parodist, no, it's the Rangerphile as a whole. And I'd like to tell you that I feel very, very, very much honored by you and by being given this award. A mere "thank you very much" would not be sufficient to express my thankfulness.

::Applause::

Midnight: I really enjoyed this year with you all, and a year it was, for tonight is the night of my first anniversary of being an active Rangerphile. It was exactly one year ago tonight, on March 1st, 2006 at midnight, that's 2 am here, when I joined the Acorn Café community. Guess that's another reason for celebrating, huh? I hope to see as many of you as possible at the after-show party!

[img] http://www.indyranger.com/2006GA/MunkartSpeech2.jpg[/img]

JP: Congratulations, Midnight and MM! Next year, I hope you'll be able to pass on the RoY award to the next worthy recipient!

::Jeff looks at the camera and points towards the viewers::

JP: And don't go away! The coveted Lifetime Achievement Award is coming up next!

::Camera irises out on Jeff's finger, which gets caught::

JP: Ow!

::Finger is pulled back, and the iris closes to black::