At this year’s Manitoba Community Newspaper Awards (MCNA) a well-known former newspaper owner and columnist was recognized for his 44 years of being in the industry. Co-founder and columnist for the Opasquia Times, Murray Harvey, was nominated and received the MCNA Silver Quill Award for his 25 plus years in the newspaper industry.
“I definitely spent a lot of time working in the newspaper business over the years, but I was just shy of being nominated for the Gold Quill Award for 50 years in the business, so the next option was the Silver Quill Award, recognizing 25 or more years,” said Harvey.
“I started the Opasquia Times with my partner Dennis, back in 1978, which was a result of a series of unrelated events. At the time I was working in a department looked after by the provincial government and when it changed, they decided to close it down. I knew it was time to try my hand at something else, but I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do. I knew I wanted to go into the consulting business, but everyone who was leaving the government at that time had that idea and I figured everyone would starve to death at that point.