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.