Bill Draayer Award 1983

Given in recognition of outstanding personal contributions to the progress and development of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association.

Howard Bowes

As an active member of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association, Howard Bowes has been in the forefront of Association progress for almost 20 years. He was one of the leaders in producing the McDonald Readership Survey which will always be regarded as an awakening to the power and influence of Alberta's weekly newspapers.

As chairman of the Advertising and Public Relations Committee of AWNA for several years, Howie was instrumental in convincing his fellow members that they could, and should, employ a sales representative as a prelude to opening a Central Office. To prove the point, he personally tested the climate of the Alberta advertising industry by voluntarily calling on agencies and regional advertisers on behalf of members of the Association.

His response in moments of crisis for the Association on several occasions, has been immediate, calm and creative, practical solutions. Only recently he has shown leadership once again by taking responsibility to test the effectiveness and usefulness of individual Readership Surveys designed for use by weekly newspapers.

In the course of Howie Bowes' continued and enthusiastic support for the Association, he has served in official capacities as a Director and President of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association;  and he now represents AWNA as a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association.