The day after the Oscars the district of North Vancouver held its own awards night. The gowns were less formal but at least the awards went to the correct recipients, of which I was one.
The Community Heritage Awards are presented annually to recognize efforts to promote heritage conservation in the community. Last night most of the awards went to homeowners who had gone out of their way to restore and/or preserve their heritage houses.
And then there was me. In fact I do live in a heritage home but the award was for advocacy; in other words, for my history of North Van, Where Mountains Meet the Sea, published by Harbour Publishing last June.
Award winners were not called upon to say a few words so I didn't get a chance to give my Oscars speech thanking everyone I've known since grade school. Nonetheless, nice things were said about the book, which was supported by the North Vancouver Museum & Archives and which of course is still available for purchase in local bookshops.