Every year, Destination Gettysburg's bestows a distinguished tourism honor - the Jim Getty Spirit of Gettysburg Award - to an individual in the tourism community of Adams County, Pa. who exemplifies leadership, dedication and contribution to the tourism industry. 

The award is in honor of well-know Abraham Lincoln presenter, Jim Getty, who passed away in 2015.

Nominations for the 2020 Jim Getty Spirit of Gettysburg Award are open until February 25, 2020.

Past Winners

Paul Witt- 2019 RECIPIENT
Paul Witt's passion for the hospitality industry began at only 16 years of age after helping his family's business, the Quality Inn Gettysburg Battlefield. After graduating from Cornell University, he moved back to his hometown of Gettysburg, Pa., and became a champion in the tourism community. Paul was instrumental in bringing to Gettysburg an original copy of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address for view for 10 years.

The Witt family continues to carry on their longstanding tradition of supporting the tourism community with their latest addition, the new Best Western Hotel on Steinwehr Avenue.  

NAncie Gudmestad- 2018 RECIPIENT
In the mid-1990s, Nancie Gudmestad and her husband, Del, purchased a house on Baltimore Street with the intent of renovating the building and telling the story of the town’s civilians and how they endured the Battle of Gettysburg in the 1860s. But what they discovered was the story of the Shriver family, who purchased that same house with the hope of not only making it their new home, but to open a 10-pin bowling alley and saloon.

That story has been at the heart of a larger story about the citizens of Adams County, Pa., and their story. Since the Shriver House Museum opened in 1996, that story has been told to thousands of families and school children from around the world.

Terry Fox- 2017 RECIPIENT
Terry Fox, a licensed battlefield guide and leadership development instructor, was honored with the second annual "Jim Getty Spirit of Gettysburg Award," given in recognition of one of the destination's greatest ambassadors.
 
Fox was nominated because of his leadership, dedication and contribution to the tourism community of Adams County, Pa. Fox began his career in the tourism industry as a licensed battlefield guide 47 years ago and has since begun working the U.S. Strategic Leadership Center to train companies and organizations using the lessons of leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Jacqueline White- 2016 RECIPIENT
Jacqueline White, the owner of Gettysburg’s Dobbin House Tavern, was honored with the inaugural “Jim Getty Spirit of Gettysburg Award” in 2016.
 
The inaugural award, issued six months after the passing of Getty, was given to White, who – like Jim Getty – has spent decades in the Adams County tourism community as an ambassador not only for her own business, but that of the entire destination.
 
White started her tourism career at just 8 years old at her parent’s amusement park in Gettysburg known as Fantasyland. The park has since closed, but her time there – serving a variety of roles – prepared her for her next stop in tourism, as owner of Gettysburg’s popular Dobbin House Tavern, a place she opened in 1978.