I attended the award ceremony with my wife, Melissa, and my parents Scott and Colleen Arnold. It started with a reception complete with hors d'oevres and a display of all the finalists.
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| When it comes to free food, the writing community gets serious! |
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| Just a small part of the display of books. |
After the recepton, it was time for the award ceremony. We filed into the auditorium.
Karen Walhof, the Midwest Book Awards Chair, did the presenting:
When a category was announced, they'd show the finalists up on the screen:
Then they would announce the winner. Dorothy Mostad,the president of the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, handed out the certificates and medals. Here I am receiving the award:
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| Wait - do I look over this way? Or that way? |
Mary Ann Grossman, longtime book reviewer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press (she started her career there in 1961!) received the Bell Award, which "honors a person in the publishing community who epitomizes the core values of professional collegiality and generosity with support, knowledge, and wisdom."
It was a wonderful event, and I'm glad I could share it with Melissa, my folks, and you, my readers!
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