To Gary Blucher, recipient of the 1994 Joseph P. Meyerhoff Builder of the Year Award, being active in the Home Builders Association of Maryland is the least he can do to support the industry that supports him.
"Anybody, no matter what business you're in, should do whatever you can to promote that kind of work," said Mr. Blucher, director of construction for Masonry Contractors in Manchester and the association's president last year.
"I've just been active in being a spokesman for the association and an advocate, dealing with items both beneficial and potentially detrimental to the industry."
But to his fellow builders, his involvement since 1980 means much more.
"Nobody was more deserving," said L. Earl Armiger, a member of the committee that chose Mr. Blucher for HBAM's highest award. "Nobody had given more of his time or more of himself than Gary."
The other committee members were George Sheham, Builder of the Year for 1992, and Martin K. P. Hill, president of Masonry Contractors in Manchester.
Mr. Hill was the 1993 Builder of the Year.
"We felt that, clearly, Gary Blucher had been the most active and had done the most for the association over the past three years," said Mr. Armiger, president of Orchard Development Corp. in Ellicott City and the 1991 Builder of the Year.
The award, named for the Baltimore builder and philanthropist who was HBAM's first president in 1943, is given every year to an association member who is a leader in the organization and has demonstrated excellence in the industry.
This is the second time a Carroll County builder has won the award, and the first time two from the same company have received the honor in consecutive years, Mr. Blucher said.
"I supported Gary for the award, but since he worked for me, I left it up to the other two individuals on the committee to nominate him," Mr. Hill said. "There was a strong feeling with the other members that he should be nominated, and I was not able to dispute that. He was unanimously selected."
In addition to serving as state president, Mr. Blucher was president of the Carroll County chapter from 1987 to 1988, has represented HBAM on a national level, been chairman of several association committees and was instrumental in creating the HBAM Land Development Council in 1990.
The council deals with any problems a developer might have getting a piece of land ready for construction, Mr. Armiger said.
Mr. Blucher is also active in the Maryland Builder's Association, serving on the board of directors and as its 1994 vice president and secretary. He is expected to eventually become president of that association.
To Mr. Blucher, getting people with conflicting opinions to talk and compromise has been his greatest achievement.
From discussions about impact fees in Carroll County to the building moratorium, he was willing to look at both sides of the issue, he said.
"I like to think that throughout the process, I never went in saying 'no' off the bat," Mr. Blucher said.