A writers festival and two youth programs took home this year's Touchstone Awards -- and some cash -- presented Tuesday by the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation.
This year's award theme was "Celebrating Creativity Within.'' The gold award winner was the Great Northern Festival of Words by the Lake Superior Writers.
The April 2006 festival attracted more than 1,500 people, including regional writers, filmmakers, publishers and others interested in literature, film, poetry and journalism.
The silver award winner was the Lake Superior Youth Chorus for its Opera Collaboration, which introduced chorus members to opera, many for the first time. The event included a fall retreat and spring presentation on two nights at UMD's Weber Hall.
The bronze winner was the Duluth school district for the 2005 Scott Anderson Leadership Forum. Participating in the daylong workshop were more than 70 students from nine Duluth schools, Proctor, Hermantown, Superior and Cloquet. The workshop is aimed at developing leadership and creative problem-solving.
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The gold award winners received a check for $5,000, silver $2,500 and bronze $1,000.
These were the 13th annual Touchstone Award presentations. The foundation has nearly $50 million in assets and has awarded $2.6 million in grants in 2006. The foundation encourages private donations from local people for the public benefit. It has allocated more than $28 million over the past 24 years.
