Murray Elliott 2018
Murray Elliott of the Olds Albertan and Mountain View Gazette was presented with the George Meyer Leadership Award for 2018 by Duff Jamison, CEO Great West Newspapers
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The George Meyer Leadership Award recognizes individuals who position their newspaper as a community leader, and who do their own work to strengthen their community and industry. The criteria call for someone who exemplifies community leadership and volunteerism.
Tonight’s recipient exhibits those qualities – on a daily basis – and is exactly the sort of person George had in mind when he lent his name to this award. In fact, this isn’t the first time I’ve found myself at the podium singing this person’s praises for volunteerism and community leadership. In 2014 it was the Bill Draayer Award and then again last year for a Silver Quill.
So where do you start when you want to give people a sense of Murray Elliott’s commitment to his community?
Anyone who has observed Murray’s commitment to this organization and the community newspapers industry already knows he’s not the sort of guy who gently dips his toe in the water. He jumps right in.
Whether that’s chairing an AWNA committee or sitting for two years as our president and perhaps twice that many as past president we’ve all come to respect Murray as a guy who is not just willing to give it a go, but someone we can count on to get it done. It’s why he still up to his armpits in AWNA work chairing the ad committee and then taking on the convention committee at the last minutes when its chair vacated the post. If you were wondering why he’s once again chairing this dinner, now you know.
Working with a guy who is this involved in his community must be quite a challenge, so I asked a couple of Mountain View staffers for their observations.
Many in this room know Ray Lachambre. He is a former partner of Murray’s, the Publisher of the Sundre Roundup and he manages the Mountain View Publishing printing operation. Here’s what Ray had to say:
“I have known Murray Elliot for over 20 years and have worked alongside him for the past 13. As a new publisher coming to this province back in 1997, Murray was one of the first to welcome my wife Joanne and me to the area, even though, at the time, we were neighbouring competitors. I always found Murray to be very fair and was always the one to go the extra mile to help a person out.
“Following our sale to Great West Newspapers in 2005 I have worked alongside Murray in Mountain View Publishing Inc. Murray has the utmost respect of the staff and the entire community. Having served on many committees within the community he still has time to hold various positions within the newspaper association both provincial and national, look after his aging parents, run a successful group of newspapers and head up a group of local cycling enthusiasts from time to time. When one thinks of a person with a full plate of activities, Murray’s plate is running over.
“Beside everything he does, he still has time to crack a few lame jokes. Anyone who has met Murray, knows of his humour and his bold, infectious laugh. Almost daily you can find him telling someone a joke or a humourous story and then breaking out the patented Murray laugh that fills the building.
Lea Smaldon, is Murray’s Managing Editor giving her a great perch from which to watch him in action.
“It’s hard to figure out where Murray the publisher ends and Murray the community volunteer begins,” she said. “There’s hardly a day that goes by that he doesn’t have someone in his office or on the phone discussing the upcoming meeting, event or issues of the various groups he volunteers with.
“He believes that giving back to the community is as much a personal responsibility as it is a corporate one.
“Murray believes that the community newspapers he commands are an integral part of the community and as such should behave in a way that supports the community. He’s a shoe-in for sponsorship requests that annually range from curling bonspiels and prostate cancer awareness events to horse shows. If there’s a municipal, provincial or federal election, he’s helping to organize candidate forums sponsored in part by Mountain View Publishing.
“Murray’s list of volunteering goes on and on – he’s a member of the Business Attraction and Retention Committee with the Olds Institute, is a member of the Kiwanis Club and an organizing member of Spring Fling.
Speaking of going on and on, I’ve gone on long enough. I thought it was important that I share a little of what Murray does for his community and I thank George Meyer for the opportunity to honour him for all that good work.