President’s Perspective: WBNG Presents 2013 Front Page, Guild Service Awards

On July 26, WBNG members and friends will gather at St. Ignatius Church (740 N. Calvert St., two blocks from the Sun) in Baltimore to host our annual Front Page and Guild Service awards, which recognize and honor our hard working union activists and journalists. The Guild is recognizing their professional work in Writing, Photography, Graphics and Art.

We also recognize members who help build the Guild, through awards for Mobilizing, for Member of the Year and top Shop Steward, Unit Officer, Bargaining Unit, and for Community Service. And we honor Distinguished Longtime Service with an award named for our late President, Connie Knox.

WBNG is proud to continue its long tradition of recognizing the talents from within our own local and units. Each year, the responses I hear from the many award recipients are: “What an honor it is to be nominated by your peers from the rank-and-file, for the work we enjoy doing and make a living from.”

Each prestigious Front Page award holds special memories of past Guild members. Some are named in their honor as journalists, photographers, etc., with such names as Morton Mintz, Bernie Harrison, Frank C. Porter, Bill Pryor (writing and photography) and John Albano (arts).
The Guild Service awards named for rank-and-file members whose long-standing union activism, including service to their communities, Herblock (Post cartoonist Herb ert Block), Dan de Souza, Nadine Grinder, Connie Knox and Darlene Meyers. The latter two awards were named posthumously to recognize the dedicated work and service to their collective bargaining units, the local and the International, TNG-CWA.

It is an honor for me to be asked to serve as a presenter each year; I stand in awe of these talented professionals, who often pull double duty as employees and union members. Like myself, I hope that you find it amazing to hear why they were nominated and what their peers have to say about their work and why they believe they are worthy of such an auspicious award. It is gratifying to be honored by your co-workers, realizing that, like the public, they too see the dedication of your work and the passion to which our honorees bring to the jobs.

On behalf of the Executive Council and staff, we look forward to having you come out and join us in not just celebrating our very best of the best but to honor each one of them for their exemplary work and service. The food and beverages are always great and plentiful, along with the opportunity to see current and former co-workers, but to also meet members from across our varying units represented by the local.

– Sheila Lindsay