(Austin) — Seguin radio station AM 1580 KWED picked up some hardware at this year’s Texas Association of Broadcasters (TAB) Convention and Trade Show. KWED was one of only a handful of radio and television stations honored with the Bonner McLane Public Service Award.
TAB President Oscar Rodriguez says the awards recognize broadcasters that are “dedicated to serving their local communities by helping grow and strengthen the cultural and economic fabric of the Lone Star State.”
KWED earned the award in the Small Market Radio category. Darren Dunn, general manager and partner for KWED radio, says it was a honor to be recognized by the TAB.
“I feel like the radio station and our company tries to uplift this community with everything that we do, but we highlighted our annual KWED Holiday Food & Toy Drive. The event raises money and accepts new toys and non-perishable food items to benefit the Seguin Police Department’s Blue Santa program and the community’s food pantry — The Christian Cupboard.
Our staff has been hosting this event for more than a decade and it’s really our way to give back to the community during the holiday season. We want every child to have a special gift during the Christmas season, but we also want to make sure that our community is well-fed throughout each year. We bring special guests together for the event, including elected officials, community volunteers and students from the Seguin ISD, Navarro ISD and Texas Lutheran University. Those folks stand, and in some cases, perform, outside the radio station each year as a way to help support the Christian Cupboard and Blue Santa. It’s an amazing thing to see,” said Dunn.
Dunn says the award is nice, but they don’t do these kinds of things for awards. He says the station exists to provide service to the community.
“KWED has been such a big part of Seguin and Guadalupe County since the late 1940’s. We are there during the best and worst of times. We try to be a voice of reason, support, and truth for the entire community. We do that through our radio station, our newspaper (Seguin Daily News), our monthly magazine (Seguin Today), and through our website (seguintoday.com). We love all things Seguin, and we are constantly looking for ways that we can help to make this community a better place to live, work and play,” said Dunn.
The TAB Convention & Trade Show was held August 2-3 at the JW Marriot in downtown Austin. The Bonner McLane Public Service awards were handed out during the TAB’s Leadership Breakfast held on August 3. The award is named after Bonner McLane, who was TAB’s first Executive Director. He died in 1987.
The other public service award winners include KXAN-TV Austin (Large Market TV), KBTX-TV Bryan-College Station (Medium Market TV), KTAB/KRBC-TV Abilene (Small Market TV), and Cox Media Group Houston (Large Market Radio).