by Paul Miller, The Sam Adams Alliance (Chicago): The Sam Adams Alliance is proud to announce that the winners for the 2nd Annual Sammies Awards have been selected. With nearly 200 entries later, the Sammies Awards committee had their work cut out for them. Nic Hall, Sammies contest coordinator said, “We originally intended to choose the winners within a week of the contest ending, but that quickly became an impossible task. The Sammies committee had a difficult task not just selecting winners, but limiting each of the categories to a few finalists. The Sammies prove without a doubt that citizen activism is alive and well in America.”The Sam Adams Alliance will be honoring and presenting a total of $40,000 in cash prizes to the winners at a red carpet ceremony the evening of April 18 at the Marriott Renaissance North Shore in Northbrook, Illinois. Winners are being flown to Chicago from all over the country, so they can receive their recognition in an appropriate manner.
The Sam Adams Alliance believes the winners should receive their awards from distinguished individuals whose own work merits presenting such high honors We are proud to have so many champions of individual liberty and economic freedom presenting Golden Sammies to the winners. Guest presenters include best-selling author Michelle Malkin, Stephen Moore and John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, Fox News contributors Jonathan Hoenig and Mary Katharine Ham and Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber.
The winner of the Golden Sammies are . . .
- Fred Baldwin, Seth Cooper, and John Wynne Jr. each won the Wikiteer Award and a $1000 prize for their thorough contributions to Ballotpedia, Judgepedia, and Sunshine Review--all wikis of the Sam Adams Alliance.
- Melissa Clouthier, of The Woodlands, Texas, won the Best Microblogger of the Year Award and the $2,000 prize for her use of social media in promoting liberty at the state and federal level.
- Ruth Bendl, of Portland Oregon, won the Voter Watchdog Award and the $2,500 prize for her work in monitoring the 2008 election. In her efforts she identified 44 deceased Oregonian voters. She has been instrumental in getting the Vote-By-Mail state to enact new rules about how ballots are transported and counted.
- Elizabeth Crum of Las Vegas, Nevada, won the $2,500 Blogivist of the Year Award for successfully embodying the “Say Something, Do Something” spirit of Blogivists.com. Having started blogging a t E!! The True Conservative Story last June, in 10 short months she has received recognition from Politico, Instapundit, and National Review Online, as well as been published in Liberty-Watch, and featured on local news stations.
- Chad Everson, of Princeton, Minnesota, won the $5,000 Best State Blogger Award for his efforts in building a network of over 150 bloggers and 16 radio personalities on GrizzlyGroundswell.com.
- Caleb Brown and Austin Bragg, of Arlington, Virginia, won the Best Video Award and the $5,000 prize for their research and analysis of Virginia’s asinine, anti-competitive—and unconstitutional—liquor laws.
- James Bell, of Lithia Springs, Georgia, won the $5,000 Tea Party Award for his work in defeating two sales tax increases and proposing a bill, which in 2008 became Georgia law, restricting local government from holding tax votes on special elections.
- William Carlin Walker, of Liberty, Missouri, won the $5,000 Sunshine Award for his work in exposing illegal retirement benefits and rampant credit card abuse by top administrators in the Liberty School District—including thousands on alcohol and parties—along with leading a successful petition drive that resulted in a state audit of the district. William’s whistle-blowing led to the resignation of two administrators, and the Missouri General Assembly has introduced four pieces of legislation in response to his investigative labor.
- Ari Armstrong, of Westminster, Colorado, won the Modern-Day Sam Adams Award along with the $10,000 prize for his relentless — and ubiquitous — defense of free markets and individual liberty in the state of Colorado. He is author of FreeColorado.com and a columnist for the Grand Junction Free Press. In the last year, Ari’s work has been published in the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post Online, and featured on numerous radio and television news programs.
The Sam Adams Alliance congratulates all the winners as well as everyone who entered the Sammies contest. Your hard work and dedication to liberty and freedom is greatly appreciated! Defending the ideals of our Founding Fathers is a never-ending battle. Join us at the Sammies to honor these winners.
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Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service, thanks The Sam Adams Alliance for its encouragement and supporting activities and is proud to have been a participating member of SamSphere Chicago 2008. Congratulations to all the winners of 2nd Annual Sammies.
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