LUDLOW, Vt. – On a rainy Thursday in Ludlow, three local businesses were awarded the 2024 Dukie Awards. It was a new experience for Divided Sky and their indomitable leader Melanie Gulde. “This is our very first award of any kind, and we’ve only been open for one year,” gushed the program director for the residential recovery program. Mojo, on the other hand, are veterans when it comes to bagging the vaunted Dukie. Mojo last received a Dukie in 2021, and John and Jodi Seward were thrilled, saying “laissez bon temps roulez,” which of course is Cajun French for “let the good times roll.” Patrick and Betsy Ross of Tygart Mountain Sports had an unusually grand day receiving their third award, which was nicknamed the throuple. The selection committee for the Dukie award has obviously seen something they like down at Tygart, and rewarded them accordingly.
The Duke DaLoose Foundation Award for Excellence, also known as the Dukie, is an annual award presented to businesses who exhibit the traits embodied by the award’s namesake Duke DaLoose. The Duke DaLoose Foundation Committee for Awarding the Duke DaLoose Foundation Award for Excellence is responsible for choosing the recipients of the prestigious award. As Patrick Ross from Tygart Mountain Sports expressed, “Wow, just wow, I am speechless.” And to anyone who knows Ross, that is indeed an accomplishment.