2010 BCYCNA Ma Murray Awards Gala Highlights

The BC & Yukon Community Newspapers Association held its annual BCYCNA-Bell Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond.

As is tradition, this year’s Gala weekend started off with the CN Scholarship Luncheon, where the BCYCNA handed out $24,000 to college and university students from all over British Columbia. The chosen students all hope to pursue careers in community newspapers, in the fields of applied communications, graphic design, journalism, sales and marketing.

The weekend also included a BCYCNA Board of Directors meeting, as well as the Association’s Annual General Meeting.

On Saturday evening, 315 guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and drinks the Catalyst Paper President’s Reception before being invited into the River Rock Show Theatre to say farewell to outgoing BCYCNA president Scott Nelson and to welcome new BCYCNA president Lorne Doerkson, who then introduced the 2010-2011 BCYCNA Board of Directors.

The Awards Gala Dinner then kicked off with a welcome from our emcees, Global TV’s Randene Neill and very funny comedian Roman Danylo, followed by a scrumptious three-course meal and plenty of wine. After dinner, we mixed things up a bit and made some early presentations. Brian McCristall, retired publisher of the Tri-City News, was honoured with a Lifetime Membership to the BCYCNA, and 100-year-old Edgar Dunning was presented with the Eric Dunning Integrity Award.

Before moving onto the awards presentation, MC Roman Danylo switched hats and entertained the crowd with his interactive comedy set that included “performances” by Candy Hodson of Black Press, Steve Robertson of the Yukon News, Peter Kvarnstrom of Glacier Media, and Catherine Power-Chartrand of the Whistler Question. Very funny stuff - thanks to everyone for being such good sports!

The Gala then rolled forward into the formal awards presentation, and the BCYCNA was delighted to hand out 43 more beautiful statues to deserving winners from all over BC and Yukon. In fact, all of our papers did wonderfully and should be very proud! All awards were well-received and will surely be proudly displayed in community newspaper offices all over the Western region.

Of course, the celebration didn’t end with the awards – it never does! As usual, when the Gala was over, everyone moved back into the Theatre Lounge to keep the party going! Dancing, mingling, drinks, snacks and a DJ make for a great party, and this one continued right till the end. For those with extra energy, it even carried on up in the Presidential Suite on the ninth floor.

The 2010 Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards were an overwhelming success – possibly our best ever, if we may say so ourselves! The BCYCNA would like to thank our title sponsor, Bell, as well as our major event sponsors, BCLC, CN, and Catalyst Paper, for their continued support of the community newspaper industry. We would also like to thank all of our awards sponsors: BCAA, BC Arts Council, the Black family, Canada Post, Curve Communications, Glacier Media, Horizon Publications, Hub International, International Web Express, New Car Dealers Association of BC, Port Metro Vancouver, TELUS, Thompson Rivers University School of Journalism, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, and WorkSafeBC.

Next year’s event will happen alongside the national CCNA and CNA convention and Awards Competition, on April 30, 2011!

Watch this space for video highlights to come soon.

Click the attachment for the full list of winners! winners-announce-2010