A Tri-City News reporter won a national award last week for a photo feature on a Coquitlam man who makes wooden baseball bats.
Gary McKenna placed first in the category Best Photo Essay in the 2015 Canadian Community Newspapers Awards. April Bartlett of the Albert Gazette in St. Albert, Alta. and Greg Laychak of the Chilliwack Times placed second and third respectively. McKenna's photos (far right) accompanied his Aug. 8, 2014 story about Bruce Campbell, a local craftsman who has been turning wood for about 30 years and making wood bats since 2008; he now makes almost 500 bats each year.
As well, Tri-City News editor Richard Dal Monte will be given the Canadian Community Newspapers Association's (CCNA) Silver Quill award in recognition of his more than 28 years of work as a community newspaper journalist.
McKenna's award is the latest honour for a Tri-City News staffer. Reporter Diane Strandberg is a finalist in a provincial journalism competition for the paper's ongoing campaign to aid the rebuilding of Mossom Creek Hatchery. The Tri-City News' hatchery project is one of three finalists for the Ma Murray Community Service Award in the BC and Yukon Community Newspaper Association's (BCYCNA) 2015 awards.
BCYCNA will hand out its awards at a banquet April 25 at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, where Dal Monte will also receive his CCNA award.
