Friday, March 28, 2008

2007 Toonie Awards

2007 Toonie Awards!

This year’s Toonie Awards was held April 28, 2007 at the Rocksalt Restaurant on Lake Union, guest speaker Paul Chadwick graced the podium with highlights from his dazzling career as well as some poignant advice.

The CNW Quest for Answers was also a hit, as attendees had to draw random lots- some pulled questions, some answers- and they where then forced to mingle in order to be entered into the grand prize drawing! 4 winners were chosen, at random, and each received a fine piece of original, Paul Chadwick artwork and an autographed book from his heralded Concrete series.

We also raffled off tons of swag and enjoyed delicious meals with lake front views. The CNW Charity coloring book was unveiled, many awards were given and much acclaim and ego-stroking ensued. Mark Monlux swept the clay contest…again, and long time member, Sherry Flenniken was awarded the coveted Golden Toonie.

The night even included a debut appearance by the Amazing Martin Brothers, a group of well groomed young lads whose claim to fame rested entirely on their skewed, 60's folk-rock covers.
All in all a blow out night! Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to produce this truly fantastic event

The 15th Annual Toonie Awards 2006

The Annual Toonie Awards honor cartoonists who have made significant contributions to the field and have ties to the Pacific Northwest.

Television networks scheduled reruns during the Winter Olympics rather than compete for an audience, and the National Hockey League went on temporary hiatus... But Cartoonists Northwest held their Fifteenth Annual Toonie Award Ceremony & Banquet right on schedule—Ciao Ballard!

As a matter of fact, this year's Toonie Award Banquet had the highest attendance of any of the fifteen events. Our first award banquet was attended by seventy-five people and none since had come close to that attendance, but this year eighty members and guests filled the room to capacity!


At the door to the banquet room at the Yankee Grill, Liriel McMahon welcomed everyone. She made sure we signed in the Guest Book, picked up name tags, meal tickets, beads and tiaras.


To start things off, former Cartoonists NW President
Kevin Brockschmidt presented Twenty-Five Years of Cartoonists Northwest, sharing humorous recollections of the early years of the club. Kev also narrated a video presentation by Tony Benedict. It featured memories from early meetings and Toonie Award Banquets, including images of members no longer with us such as the late J. Lee Helck and Harvey Bosch. Also on the DVD were members we don't see much anymore like Louis Scarborough Jr. and Avery.

Properly reminded of the clubs past, CNW President Scott Alan & VP Scott Ball took the reigns of the present. First they invited anyone who hadn't already done so to have fun with Clay sculpting. Then they asked everyone to view and begin bidding on the fabulous items in our Silent Auction, where there was everything from original art by Rick Hoberg and Ray Collins, to published works by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Dave Horsey and Georgia & Scott Ball. And last but not least, to check out the Raffle items (tickets $2) including t-shirts, book bags, posters, playing cards—Billy Mays would have a field day listing you could get.

About this time, we came to the Musical Interlude. All the way from Cashmere, WA, we put our hands together to welcome Dan McConnell who played the title track from his CD Cow Cat.

Audience participation was encouraged and soon the whole room was singing and laughing and wondering how many verses Dan had written. Copies of his CD were available at the banquet.
Special Guest
Peter Bagge was a highlight of the evening. He shared the story of his cartooning career and had the room laughing our behinds off (is that why Kev had a sticker on the back of his pants?).

One funny anecdote concerned his first visit to Cartoonists Northwest and the prodding he got from one member about "it's not what you know but who you know" and why wouldn¹t Peter share his secrets to comic strip syndication fame & fortune?

Taking the podium to present the Member Certificates were Mike Tackett, Maureen (Gibbs) VanderPas and Liz deDesrochers.

Certificates of Appreciation recognizing Cartoonists NW officers and volunteers
President's Certificate —
Scott AlanVice President's Certificate — Scott BallSpeaker Coordinator — John LustigTreasurer's Certificates — Liriel McMahon,Elizabeth PankeyWebmaster's Certificate — Georgia BallPenstuff Editor — Dick RogersOrganizing Spawns of Insomnia Certificates — Scott Alan, Scott Ball, John Lustig, Luke Martin
Guest Speaker Certificate —
Peter Bagge
Honorary Charter MembersBrian Basset, Dave Horsey
Favorite Clay Design — Mark Monlux
Certificates of Membershiprecognizing Membership Achievements
Five Year Member —
Mark MonluxTen Year Members — Linda and Chuck HuffmanFifteen Year Members — Kathy Biever, Kevin Brockschmidt, Alena and Bob Kelton, Bill FridayTreasurer's Certificates — Liriel McMahon,Elizabeth PankeyWebmaster's Certificate — Georgia BallPenstuff Editor — Dick RogersOrganizing Spawns of Insomnia Certificates — Scott Alan, Scott Ball, John Lustig, Luke MartinTwenty Year Members — Avery, Tom Hofstedt , Jeff Willis, Jeffrey WoodTwenty One Year Member — Dick RogersTwenty Five Year Members — Gary Bocz, Liz deDesrochers, Bob Gilman, Mark Jessup, Mike Tackett, Maureen (Gibbs) VanderPas
Best of the Northwest 2005 —
Kevin Boze
The Great Vic Stredicke Favorite New Talent Award —
Bill Morse

And finally, the moment we all were waiting for, the Toonie Award Finalists and then the awarding of the Golden Toonie Award to the Cartoonist of the Year. The categories and finalists for this year were:

Certificates of Achievement Toonie Awards





Still the evening wasn't over yet. It was a special treat for Cartoonists Northwest to bestow a deserved honor on our beloved Founding Mother, Maureen (Gibbs) VanderPas. Scott Alan & Scott Ball called her to the podium and presented her with the one-of-a-kind Silver Toonie Award. Maureen also was given a memory book made up of artwork and notes from members. "What an incredible idea. To have special artwork from so many people especially for me. It's truly outstanding and I'm just awestruck," she said.

The Silent Auction and Raffle were successes. Members took home fantastic items such as original Rick Hoberg artwork and the club coffers were fattened up a bit. A win-win situation. Scott Alan declared these the best Toonie Awards ever and welcomed everyone to join us at the next Toonie Award Banquet to be held... locally.

The 14th Annual Toonie Awards 2005

The Annual Toonie Awards honor cartoonists who have made significant contributions to the field and have ties to the Pacific Northwest!

The Cartoonists Northwest's event took place on March 19th 2005 at Ivar's Salmon House. Banquet tables were decorated with St. Patrick's Day green mugs and Bazooka Gum, and early arrivals perused the Art Auction while waiting for the festivities to begin.

Guest speaker Brian Basset, the cartoonist behind the syndicated comics Red and Rover and Adam@Home, themed his talk around finding a renewed interest in the cartooning art form.

Reading a collection of old Sunday funnies reminded Bill recently that cartooning is more than just a job. It's up to every contributor the industry to convey the value of the art; cartoonists owe the reader their maximum effort every time. "It's a humbling feeling to be given this gift," Basset says. He attributes his gift to getting an electric shock from a vacuum at an early age and no-helmet hockey.

Basset lauched Red and Rover in May of 2000, just as the economy took a downward swing. September 11 shut everything down, and since newspapers are directly tied to the economy they froze their budgets and cut their features. Comic strips are treated like poor step-children by editors that are administrators, not journalists, and know very little about comics. Many newspapers have folded, and those that survived have smaller staffs. For years newspapers were not buying new strips, and editors were comfortable with leaving things as they were. Cutting favorite stand-by strips upsets readers, and timid editors didn't make changes. "Remember though that cream rises to the top," Brian said. "If you don't go for it, it won't work."


Basset noted that humor changes quickly, and wondered if Peanuts would get syndicated in the modern world. He acknowledged knowing very little about the kind of effect web comics might have on the industry. When asked what motivates him to keep going, he replied, "The love of it." When Charles Schulz died, Basset stopped to think about how lucky he is to be a cartoonist. "Schulz never lost the thrill."

Following Brian Basset's speech, the Toonie Awards were announced. The Web Comics Toonie went to Scott and Georgia Ball for their online comic, Scooter and Ferret. Kaja and Phil Foglio, creators of Girl Genius, received the Comic Book Toonie. The Graphic Novel Toonie was awarded to Rick Hoberg, and the Illustration Toonie went to Mark Monlux, author of the Comic Critic. The Best of the Northwest Award, chosen during the event from the winners of the Best of the Northwest meeting competitions throughout 2004, was won by a Scooter and Ferret strip. And the evening's highest honor, the Golden Toonie, was given to Rick Hoberg, whose distinguished career is best known for his great artistry in Star Wars comics.

Certificates of achievment in leadership of Cartoonists Northwest were awarded to second-term President Scott Alan, Speaker Coordinator John Lustig, website updater Catie Lustig, Penstuff designer Dick Rogers and Treasurer Elizabeth Pankey. A special thank-you gift was awarded to Maureen VanderPas for her long-time commitment to making the Toonie Awards an annual reality. Certificates were also given out to attendees who had reached a milestone in their CNW memberships: Roberta Gregory is a ten year member, Elizabeth Pankey is a fifteen year member, and Bob Ferris is a proud twenty year member of CNW.

John Lustig announced two new inductees into the CNW Hall of Fame: Gary Larson, creator of the one-panel comic The Far Side, and Carl Barks, the revered cartoonist from the most influential period of Donald Duck comics.

The Toonies are always concluded by announcing the winners of the Clay Contest. Attendees are given clay to quickly make their quirky creations with which are then voted on. This year's winners were Mark Monlux for his "Sandwich Man" and runner-up Mark Jessup for "Spilled Mug." The highest bidders in the Art Auction came away with original art, posters, comic collections and other trinkets. Thanks to all the participants for making this year's ceremony a night to remember.