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Adventist Forum Awards Breakfast at San Diego Conference

telly

Sunday morning in San Diego began with fellowship in the Fairbanks room as 2014 Adventist Forum Conference attendees gathered around tables and enjoyed breakfast and good company.

Laughter and merriment punctuated by lychees, strawberries, melons, chocolate truffles, fruit tarts and Worthington breakfast-patty biscuits and gravy prefaced Spectrum editor Bonnie Dwyer’s taking the stage to recite poem “VI” from Wendell Berry’s This Day: New and Collected Sabbath Poems 1979-2012.

[Excerpt]

We have walked so many times,

my boy, over these old fields given up to thicket,

have thought and spoken of their possibilities,

theirs and ours, our and theirs the same,

so many times, that now when I walk here alone,

the thought of you goes with me;

my mind reaches toward yours

across the distance and through time.

No mortal mind’s complete within itself,

but minds must speak and answer,

as our must, on the subject of this place,

our history here,

summoned as we are to the correction

of old wrong in this soil,

thinned and broken, and in our minds.

You have seen on these gullied slopes

the piles of stones mossy with age,

dragged out of furrows long ago

by men now names on stones,

who cleared and broke these fields,

saw time go to ruin,

learned nothing from the trees

they saw return to hold the ground again.

[…]

Though the spring is late and cold,

though uproar of greed and malice shudders in the sky,

pond, stream, and treetop raise their ancient songs;

the robin molds her mud nest with her breast;

the air is bright with breath of bloom,

wise loveliness that asks nothing of the season but to be.

Then the Spectrum Awards Brunch commenced. Dwyer presented the four Telly Awards to Timothy Wolfer, Ray Dabrowski, Alexander Carpenter, and Rebekah Wang Scriven for their work on the documentary series  “Adventist Women + Equality = Unity.” The Telly Awards honor the very best film & video productions, groundbreaking online video content, and outstanding local, regional, & cable TV commercials and programs. The Spectrum team won in the “Promotional Pieces – Documentary” category.

Dwyer then took a few minutes to introduce the new members of the Spectrum team, including Lonnie Kotanko Tutupoly as the new editorial assistant, interns Rachel Logan and Eliana Zacarias, and Jared Wright as the full-time managing web editor.

“The board decided that if the website was going to grow and reach potential, we needed an editor on it for a full-time basis,” said Dwyer. “Our fundraiser committee took this challenge very seriously! We are very proud to have Jared join our team.”

Dwyer also thanked former Spectrum employee Midori Yoshimura for volunteering at the convention for the weekend. Charles Scriven, Spectrum Board Chair, spoke a few words about Alita Byrd, who served as interim web editor between Alexander Carpenter and Wright: “She came with her violin and her brain and her passion for journalism,” said Scriven. “And the great news is, is that she will continue to help us! Toast to Alita!” People around the ballroom reached for the pieces of sliced toast piled in the middle of their tables and raised them into the air amid applause.

Dwyer thanked the conference organizing committee for their talented efforts, including Ken Peterson, Gail Rice, Gordon Rick, and co-chairs Brenton Reading and Brent Stanyer. The fundraising team received toast hoisted aloft for their work: Lawrence Geraty, Charles Scriven, and Charles Sandefur.

Scriven then took the podium to give a special thank you. “I do this every year, and it is not redundant. How cool is Bonnie Dwyer? She could not be overrated!” The room exploded with clapping as the Spectrum editor received a standing ovation. Quick to move the attention from herself, Dwyer gave her thanks for the work of the Spectrum Board of Directors, finance manager Debbi Christensen, and tech expert Rich Hannon. After a final round of applause, Dwyer spoke. “With our thank yous, and our hearts overflowing, it’s time to get to our discussions.”

Title image: Spectrum Editor Bonnie Dwyer presents Telly Awards, Courtesy Timothy Floyd

Inset: Alexander Carpenter, Rebekah Wang Cheng, Rajmund Dabrowski, Bonnie Dwyer and Timothy Wolfer with Telly Awards. Photo Courtesy Rajmund Dabrowski

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