That was fun!  Another Toonie™ Award Ceremony! I believe… number ninety nine…I think.  Next one will be the one hundredth anniversary (or something like that)?  At any rate each one seem to be getting better than the last and they are flying by quickly.

To me the Toonies is a summary of the group as a whole.  Every year for the Toonies an extremely diverse group of artists are nominated for awards. What they have in common, it seems, is the love of creating  images. Usually the nominees create some type of art  in a cartoon style. But when it comes down to it who knows exactly how to define a ‘cartoon style’. The range of artists is diverse. We have animators, comic artists, writers, professionals workers, semi-pro artists, and up-and-comers. No one is snubbing noses at one another. We are a supportive group of friends and associates, and we are linked by the bond of our appreciation for each other’s work.

Where else  can such a variety of people gather in one room? At my table was the talented T Lewis, of ‘Over the Hedge’ fame, and the eclectic (and of course also very talented) artist,  Pat Moriarity. Two seemingly very differently styles of work and yet gathered at the same table in appreciation for the local cartoon scene.  I thanked Maureen at the Toonies for all her work. I want to state again that we owe so much to her. There are many many thanks to go around (for example thanks to Georgia Ball for working on the web site!) but when it comes down to it, it has been Maureen’s love of local cartoons that has kept the group so strong.

Lastly I want to congratulate Keith Curtis for his 2010-2011 Toonie™ Award!  Thank you for your innovative comic books, all that you have done for CNW, and your involvement in the local  cartoon community. Now we just hope that  you remember us as you move onward and upward in all that you do! You deserve it!

The Twentieth Annual Toonie™ Award Banquet was held on Saturday, April 30^th, 2011 at Ivar’s Salmon House restaurant on Lake Union.

Here’s a quick run-down of all the Certificate and Award presentations – next month we’ll have a special section with lots of photos!

2010 Golden Toonie™ Award

Keith Curtis
(Cartoonist of the Year Award)

Hall of Fame Inductees
Phil and Kaja Foglio

Best of the Northwest for 2010
Dan McConnell

Certificates of Achievement

Finalists for the Toonie Awards

Web Comics – Jeff Hawley

Books – Mark  Monlux

Editorial/Op-Ed – Dan McConnell

Comic Books – Keith Curtis

Illustration – George Jartos

Fresh Ink – Moira McDonough

Certificate of Appreciation

Guest Speaker T. Lewis

(of “Over the Hedge” fame)

2010 Service Certificates:

President

Marybeth Barr

Vice President

Mary Rheaume

Treasurer

Jeff Hamill

Speaker Coordinator

John Lustig

Web Master

Georgia Ball

Editor

Dick Rogers

Emerald City Comicon Coordinator

Ron Austin

Creative Clay Contest

Mark Monlux

Thirty Year Memberships

Gary Bocz, Liz deDesrochers, Bob Gilman, Mark Jessup, Mike Tackett, Maureen VanderPas and a special “almost 30 years” to Steve Gallacci

Twenty Five Year Memberships

Avery, Jeff Willis, Jeff Wood, Tom Hofstedt

Twenty Year Memberships

Kathy Biever, Bill Friday, Kev Brockschmidt,

Bob & Alana Kelton,

Jeff Johnson (21 yrs)

Ten Year Memberships

Mark Monlux