There comes a time when even the most modest of publications such as The Nation, one of the most feared and loathed magazines in Cree territory, Quebec City and Ottawa, must toot its own horn.
What made this Nation horn tootin’ possible was this past weekend’s Quebec Community Newspaper Association awards banquet in the beautiful Laurentian hills north of Montreal.
There we were in the dining hall all decked out in our finest threads eating steak and washing it down with some fine red wine. We had to sit through a long boring speech by someone named White, a left-hand man, I believe, of Conrad Black’s and a former Mulroney fart catcher.
We were nominated for five awards. Add that to the 12 awards already adorning our office walls.
The first acknowledgment to our greatness was when Marilyn Bearskin Herodier received anhonourable mention for her writing in the Best Column category. She tied
with Royal Orr of The Stanstead Journal.
Ernest Webb was awarded third place for an editorial he wrote on Ovide Mercredi and the Liberal Party. “My genius was finally recognized, even if it was third place,” Ernest would joke later, sticking his tongue out in the Cree manner. Indicating he was joking. Or was he?
The Cree School Board/Nation collaboration, The Learning Circle, picked up a third place award for Best Special Section. Rhonda Sherwood accepted for The Nation. “I felt like the mooost beaaautifuuuuul giiiirlin the wuuuuuuurld,” laughed Rhonda.
We were also nominated for Best Photo Essay. The Nemaska Fitness Challenge story won second place. I got up (thank you, thank you very much) to accept the award and the other winners didn’t even bother to show up. Of course, someone in the crowd had to shout out, “Sing us a song.”
Our final award was for Best In-House Ad. The ad for the Cree Health was for traditional baby foods. Our designer, Katerina Cizek, went up to accept the award with, appropriately enough, the youngest member of our entourage, three year old Rachel Webb.
I have included below sample of our winning entries for your enjoyment.Thank you… thank you very much….
