Another provincial gold medal was added to the Tri-City News awards collection Thursday night (May 4).
Reporter/photographer Mario Bartel's image of Tye Engman, a shoe entrepreneur from Port Moody, won gold in the "feature photo" category at the 2023 Ma Murrays.
The 101st annual ceremony, which was held virtually this year, is hosted by the BC/Yukon Community Newspaper Association and honours the best writing, photography and digital coverage from nearly 100 publications.
Bartel wrote a story about Engmann, who has become the sneaker buyer to some of the biggest celebrities on the screen and on the court, including Kevin Hart and Devin Booker, specializes in vintage Nike Air Jordans.
The gold was one of two medals the Tri-City News snapped up from the Ma Murrays.
Reporter Janis Cleugh also claimed bronze in the "environmental writing" category for her story on a kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation ground blessing.
Titled We are the guardians of this place, she went up to the site of the new sockeye hatchery near the Coquitlam Dam in November — located on the southern edge of Coquitlam Lake northwest of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park.
There, members of the Kwikwetlem council blessed the grounds and then Chief Ed Hall said the new hatchery goes a long way toward reconciliation.
The Ma Murrays are named for the late newspaper pioneer Margaret "Ma" Murray who was a co-founder and editor of several newspapers in B.C.
She and her husband, George, built a home in Anmore in 1916.
