Local Blogs Honored by @Mcall !

Last night we were invited to the Lehigh Valley Heritage Society by the Morning Call to honor Lehigh Valley bloggers. This is the third year for the Morning Call’s My Choice Voice blog awards and it was a really good time.

I arrived just as the event opened up and was greeted by a time traveler…

There is a great Abraham Lincoln display at the Museum currently and we ran into Honest Abe himself!

There were snacks and beverages set up (This was a high class event) and was soon joined by the Morning Call’s own Social Media guru Stephanie Sigafoos who gave me a tour of the museum. There are many high end local treasures on display at the museum. Allentown specific currency over 100 years old including the actual printing plates to print the cash, old farm implements and children’s toys from the earliest times of the Lehigh Valley. I encourage you to take a few hours and check out this gem. Details of hours/admission are on their website linked above.

I have to admit, I was limited to my phone for photography as the rest of the Noise Nation staff was out getting more material to share with our readers. DiPro and Kram took in an early game in Reading before getting together with Cheryl and heading over to Coca Cola Park early for some Noise Nation exclusives with the IronPigs. I’ll share a link to the Morning Call’s coverage later.

So the big news. I should really say BIG NEWS! The Noise Nation’s Horn & Bell Blog was honored for the third year as the “Best Sports Blog!” Not only that, we were recognized as the “Best Overall Blog!” Best Overall! Top Dog! I still have trouble believing that one with all the high quality blogs out there. Shane’s “Laughing at my Nightmare” blog, Wacker’s “Lehigh Valley With Love” blog and (although I still think she’s spelling it incorrectly) Jamie’s “Save the Kales” blog are among last night’s honorees and among my favorites. Along with being bloggers I see all these folks as friends and it was a great night for everyone involved.

All award winners by category:

Art: Arts@Lehigh Blog

Business and Technology: @JeremyLittau

Entertainment and Nightlife: The El Vee

Family: One Punky Mama

Fitness and Health: Kim’s Healthy Eats

Food: Save the Kales

Humor: Laughing At My Nightmare

Misfits Defying Categorization: Hello Home Shoppe

Music: Neck Pickup

Neighborhood: Mulroy Wondering and Wandering

News: Lehigh Valley with Love

Opinion: Molovinsky on Allentown

Personal: Hope Street

Photography: BarNone Weddings & Entertainment

Politics: Lehigh Valley Ramblings

Religion: Rik Potter: A Journal of Magickal Spirituality

Sports: The Noise Nation’s Horn & Bell

Style Scene: Lehigh Valley Transplant

Best Overall Blog: The Noise Nation’s Horn & Bell

Now to take a moment and send out my thanks. Many, many, many thanks to Decal, DiPro, Kram and Cheryl for all their hard work and effort to keep this blog, not only keeping it alive, but to keep it moving forward and to greater and more exciting places. It would be nowhere without your help and I stand and applaud for you!

Many thanks to all who voted for our blog and a special thanks to our friends at the LV Steelhawks, LV Rollergirls and LV IronPigs. We know you were voting and truly appreciate it!

A great big thank you to the Morning Call for holding this event for us each year and here’s to this event growing in the years to come!

One thank you and nod up to the Big Guy too.

So where do we go now?

I felt this is a perfect time to share with you new and exciting directions the Horn & Bell will be heading.

Look forward to seeing:

– More and more high quality podcasts from our dynamic duo DiPro & Kram. They will be getting the inside scoop, having special guests and providing you with stuff you might not hear about otherwise!

– More video. I love video, don’t you? Cheryl and Kram will be working towards interviews and some “On the spot” location reports. (There is also a very special uniform being procured as I type this) Stay Tuned!

– The continued Fan’s View of Lehigh Valley sports!

It’s going to be a great year!

Link to the Morning Call’s Photo gallery from the My Choice Voice Blog Awards.

Link to the Morning Call’s coverage of the My Choice Voice Blog Awards.