The sign “The Buck Stops Here’ that was on President Truman’s desk in his White House office was made in the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma. Fred M. Canfil, then United States Marshall for the Western District of Missouri and a friend of Mr. Truman, saw a similar sign while visiting the Reformatory and asked the Warden if a sign like it could be made for President Truman. The sign was made and mailed to the President on October 2, 1945.

Approximately 2 ½” x 13″ in size and mounted on a walnut base, the painted glass sign has the words “I’m from Missouri” on the reverse side. It appeared at different times on his desk until late in his administration.

The saying “the buck stops here” derives from a slang expression “pass the buck” which means passing the responsibility on to someone else.

The latter expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the “buck” as the counter came to be called, to the next player.

On more than one occasion President Truman referred to the desk sign in public statements. For example, in an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952, Mr. Truman said, “You know, it’s easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you – and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here – the decision has to be made.” In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that “The President – whoever he is – has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.

This is FORR’s highest honor which is given out at the FEW Seminar. The Buck Stops Here Award recognizes those individuals that have gone above and beyond, who steadfastly fight to protect the rights of Missouri’s motorcyclists, who are willing to make that hard decision and not pass the buck. A Missouri state flag is flown above our State Capitol in honor of the individual selected to receive this award.

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The Buck Stops Here Recipients

2008  Greg “Halfbreed” Mullanix

2009  Steve “Tanker” King

2010  Martin King

2011  Doug Clawson- JR DeGraffenreid- Kathy Garver

2012  None

2013  Jim Scheele

2014  Mike “Taz” Moeller

2015  Ed “Smokey” Strodtman

2016  BL McDonnell

2017  Dallas Chapman 

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Eligibility:

The individual being nominated (nominee) must be a current member of FORR and have been a member of FORR for a minimum of ten (10) years at the time of the nomination.

No posthumous nominees will be considered for this award.

The nominee may not be a current corporate officer of FORR, Inc. Current officer standing shall be determined as of the date of nomination.

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Nomination Process:

The person submitting the nomination (nominator) must be a current member of FORR and must have been a member of FORR for a minimum of five (5) years at the time of the nomination.

If additional FORR members wish to show their support of the individual being nominated, those individuals may indicate their support of the nominee by placing their full name and membership number below the name and membership number of the individual submitting the nomination. Supporting individuals shall not be required to meet the nomination requirements.

All nominations shall be made in writing, shall contain a detailed description of how this individual has made a profound and lasting impact upon Freedom of Road Riders and motorcycle rights in this state, and shall contain the full name and FORR membership number of the nominator.

Written nominations shall be submitted to the FORR General Office no later than October 1. Nominations submitted by U.S. mail must be postmarked on or before October 1 for consideration. Nominations shall be considered confidential and shall only be shared with past Buck Stops Here award recipients.

Nominations shall not carry over from year to year.

A call for nominations shall be published in the July, August and September Freedom Press, which publication shall contain the above award description and award requirements.

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FORR® General Office 1073 Matthew Circle Webb City, MO 64870

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The Award shall consist of the following:

A Missouri State Flag which has been flown over the Missouri State Capitol at the behest of a sitting Missouri legislator.

The Missouri State Flag shall be presented in a square wooden presentation box with a glass front with a 1 ½” by 4″      blue plate inscribed with the following words:

       F.E.W. Seminar (date)

       The “Buck Stops Here” Award

       (Recipient’s Name)

       A framed certificate from the legislative sponsor to the BSH recipient explaining the history of the Missouri State Flag.

       A framed certificate from the Governor stating that the flag was flown in honor of the BSH recipient.

       A “Buck Stops Here” patch.

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The General Office shall be responsible for ordering the Missouri State Flag from an appropriate legislative sponsor, obtaining the necessary frames for the award and assembly of the award with the help and recommendations of past BSH award recipients. All costs incurred for the components of the award shall be paid out of the F.E.W. Seminar budget.

 

Voting on the Award Nominees:

Voting shall be made by submission of all written nominations to all past BSH award recipients no later than October 15th. The recipient of the BSH award shall be decided by a majority vote of the past BSH recipients. In the event of a tie vote, a revote shall be taken which includes only those nominees involved in the tie vote.

 

Presentation of the Award:

The Buck Stops Here award shall be presented at the F.E.W. Seminar by the previous recipient of the BSH award. In the event this individual is unable to perform these duties they shall be performed by the next previous recipient.

Only one Buck Stops Here award will be awarded in a calendar year. As this is a very prestigious honor there may be years when the award is not presented.