North Shore resident Ron Welwood received the Anne and Philip Yandle Award this month from the BC Historical Federation for the best article in BC History magazine in 2011.
Welwood’s story, “Pat is Pat and That is That” profiled Rev. Thomas Patrick Freney, who worked in Rossland, Trail, and Cranbrook.
Freney was a prolific freelance writer who contributed to many publications. His best-known work was “The Flying Steamshovel,” which detailed a homemade helicopter said to have flown in Rossland in 1902.
It’s the second time Welwood has received the award. He was previously honoured in 2003 for his article "Baillie-Grohman’s Diversion.” What’s more, his wife Frances was the award’s recipient last year, for her biography of Vancouver Province journalist Lukin Johnston, who interviewed Adolph Hitler in 1933 — and then vanished.
Welwood is seen here receiving the award at the federation’s annual conference in Campbell River from president Barb Hynek. All the award-winning stories mentioned above and others can be found on-line here.