Awards

It was quite a privilege to be given the Trails Country Treasure Award last Sunday, and a friend and fellow-journalist, Joe Dan Boyd, was kind enough to write up this little story for local newspapers and his own blog Tinney Chapel Today    I am pictured here with Joe Dan as he presented the award.

Maryann Miller, Winnsboro artist of multiple talents, is the 2011 winner of the Trails Country Treasure Award, presented by Winnsboro Center for the Arts (WCA) to individuals who have made profound contributions to the overall arts scene: local, regional, national or worldwide.

Miller is the sixth recipient of this coveted honor which was created originally to honor 96-year-old poet Odena Brannam who was still an active poet and writer at that age. The idea was to honor artists with roots in the Trails Country, but whose influence had extended well beyond any geographic area. At that time, WCA was known as Trails Country Center for the Arts (TCCA), and the board has voted to preserve the original Trails Country designation for its premier honor.

Previous winners include Grahame Hopkins, Helen Burlingham, George & LaVonna Hitz, Bill Jones and Odena Brannam.

Miller received the award Sunday, September 25, at a ceremony hosted by Winnsboro Center for the Arts (200 Market St., Winnsboro), where she was introduced by Becky Pickett and presented two tangible awards of recognition (a mounted certificate and a sculpture cast) from Helen Burlingham and Joe Dan Boyd. All three, Boyd, Burlingham and Pickett, are members of WCA's Treasure Award Committee.

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Last week I received the Sweet Blogger Award from LD Masterson, and I meant to acknowledge it sooner, but, you know, life got in the way. I have recently started following LD and enjoy her blog very much.


According to the rules of the award I am supposed to acknowledge who gave it to me, so thank you very much LD, and share 7 random things about me. I'm not sure I can do seven, but here are a few.


I love hamburgers and chocolate ice cream, but not necessarily together.


I was once asked to stop singing during a talent show in elementary school.


I still have clothes I wore in college. Some fit, other's don't, depending on the waistline.


I once worked as a roller-skating car hop.


Another rule of the award is that I am supposed to pass it on to five new blogs. That feels a little awkward, just dropping in on folks I don't even know, so I will pass it on to a few bloggers that I do know and would like to introduce you to:


Tracy Farr, who calls his blog simply, Tracy Farr
Mary at Giggles and Guns
Elizabeth Spann Craig at Mystery Writing is Murder
And Elspeth Antonelli at It's a Mystery

I hope you will visit these blogs if you get a chance. They are well done and offer a variety of content from cartoons to humorous essays, to serious topics related to writing.