Individually and as PAMPA President, I disagree with the idea of making the awards of lower quality. As Dave pointed out, they are very modest now, to say the least.
This is our national championship. With all the time and money each competitor puts out to get a NATS entry ready, the practice time, the expenditure for their trips to Muncie, should not be rewarded with anything sub par. And maybe there are some of the most talented PA pilots who have accumulated a closet full of awards. But that is no reason to have a first or second time winner receive a plague of lower quality than he has earned at local events.
I was the ED is 2019 and was very proud that we were able to provide very nice plagues to all those who qualified to receive them. Yes, it took some fund raising. The majority of the donations came from the top pilots. They see the value in presenting an award that would make anyone proud.