It's April Fool's Day, and what better way to commemorate our national holiday here at The Motley Fool than to celebrate the contributions of some exceptional members of the Fool Community. It's time to announce our 2003 Feste Award Winner!
For the past several years, tens of thousands of Fool Community members have nominated and voted for the person they feel best embodies the spirit of the Fool Community mission -- Learning Together.
This year, we have another excellent group of nominees, all of whom represent the very best in Foolishness. If you're already a member of the Fool Community, please join us in our praise of these great Fools. If you're not yet a member, please be our guest for the next month and discover for yourself how great these people really are.
Without further ado, the winner of the 2003 Feste Award is...
Winner! -- Philip Durell -- TMFAdmiralUntil a few weeks ago, Philip was known to community denizens as AdmiralTroll. It's no coincidence that our 2003 Feste Award Winner has recently been asked to join the ranks of Fool staff and don the TMF moniker. We strive for excellence, and Philip's contributions have demonstrated that in spades.
A resident of British Columbia, TMFAdmiral is a Chief Instructor at the Marine Campus in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Along with his wife, Paulette, Philip looks forward to the marriages of both his son, this spring, and his daughter in the fall in his native England.
Philip's three favorite discussion boards are:
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Foolish Collective -- "It really tries to embody the Fool Mission of "Learning Together" and with the highest respect for all posters. It also focuses on learning to research potential investments and helps and encourages newbies who are the lifeblood of TMF."
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Canada (General) -- "It is the best place on the Internet that I've found for exchanging ideas and research into Canadian stocks. And, of course, being Canadian, we are nearly always so polite!"
- LeBeancountiere's Pacific Mermaids Syndicate -- " For some complete and comically twisted humor."
While reluctant to single any Fool out, Philip admits that Hillybilly Tom (1000), LeBeancountiere, TMFLostInThought, and Rozanovitch are some of his favorite Fools.
TMFAdmiral's advice to the newcomers in the Fool Community? Ask your questions! "The boards do seem intimidating to a newcomer because everyone appears to know so much and adults generally do not want to put themselves in a position where they may feel inadequate. But 99% of us came to these boards knowing very little about companies or how to research them. In education the only dumb question is the one left unasked and in my opinion that applies equally here at The Motley Fool."
1st Runner-Up -- TamarianGTamarianG lives in Northern California with her husband and three daughters, with a fourth child on the way! "Hey, some people are into collecting silver, others like new cars -- I like a new kid every year or two. The '98 model is just so different from the 2000 version, and unlike most things in life they only seem to get cooler over time. Of course, my oldest is only six and I haven't hit the teenager thing yet, so my adoration of kids is still 'guarded.'"
TamarianG's favorite boards include:
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Living Below Your Means -- If you ever want to know anything about ways to shave bucks off your grocery bills, long distance, ANYTHING -- post your question there.
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Foolish Collective -- There's a great variety of investing topics being discussed, a lot of food for thought, and extremely intelligent folks hanging out.
- Aruba's Isle of Revenge -- A quiet little board inhabited by some of the flat-out nicest people on the Fool.
2nd Runner-Up -- Laura Queiros -- Lqueiros
Laura Queiros graces the Feste nominees list for the second year in a row. Living in the Northeast with her husband and the "furkids" -- dog, two cats, and a horse -- Laura loves to travel, go camping, and marathon! She fell in love with marathoning last year and is in training for another in May where she'll be raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Check out Laura's Team in Training web page and cheer her on!
Laura's Favorite Boards:
Amongst her favorite Fools are IndecisiveFool, WonderPup, beejayw1, and daFlufferNut.
The Best of the Rest!
Special thanks to the rest of our nominees and our condolences to MichaelRead. Hopefully we can make this a Susan Lucci-esque event for you, Michael!
Thanks to everyone who voted and to all of our nominees for being such great contributors to the Fool Community!
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