2022 Winner: Racine Curling Club 2019 Winner: Horlick High School Award biography: Bernard F. Magruder 1895-1968  In 1919 young Bernard Magruder left his home in Webb City, Missouri, to come to Racine, after serving 18 months of military service in World War I. After a short period of employment with Webster Electric, Magruder joined the Horlick’s Malted Milk Corp. where he became an executive in the area of accounting and finance, a position he held until the late 1940s. In early 1937, the mayor of Racine, Roy Spencer, in an attempt to neutralize the bitterness that the industrial community was experiencing, organized The Goodwill Committee. Bernard Magruder was chosen as chairman of this 25 member group, made up of business and labor leaders. The Goodwill Committee organized a celebration centered around the 4th of July. The event was a smashing success, far beyond anyone’s expectations.  At the follow-up meeting after the Fourth, Chairman Magruder suggested that the committee stay intact and promote The Goodwill Celebration as an annual event. Some members balked at the idea, but Magruder’s plan prevailed. In his column in the Racine Journal-Times, Tex Reynolds wrote, “This decision resulted in permanizing (sic) the event”.  Magruder left Racine in the late 1940s to join the faculty of Wayne State University in Detroit. He later moved to Washington, D.C. where he was on the staff of the Internal Revenue Service until his retirement. Through the years, Magruder was an active member of the American Legion, the Masons, the Elks and many other civic and professional organizations. He was also a master bridge player, lecturer and teacher.  While residing in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Magruder passed away on October 27, 1968. The Board of Directors of Fourth Fest of Greater Racine, Inc. has decided (belatedly) to rename The President’s Trophy The Bernard F. Magruder Trophy beginning July 4, 2006.