When the annual Dalton Pen Awards ceremony took place in San Francisco on April 22, representatives from the Medical Reserve Corps merely had to walk across the street after the conclusion of the national conference. The Upper Merrimack Valley MRC had won an international communications award in the category of Writing: Scripts and Speeches, for the recruitment video that they had developed on a shoestring in 2004: "Being Prepared Just Makes Sense!"

The evening allowed MRC participants to switch gears from programs about disaster response to a celebration of quality communications worldwide. Representing the MRC were Nancy Burns (coordinator), who scripted the video and accepted an Award of Honor trophy on behalf of her unit, Cmdr. Robert Tosatto, and Sandy Collins (UMV MRC director).

Robert J. Tosatto, Sandy Collins, Linda Warwick, and Nancy Burns celebrating a proud moment for the MRC program at the Dalton Pen awards ceremony.

One of the other winners was Renay San Miguel, recognized for his stellar work as a reporter for CNN, who gave a stirring presentation about broadcast journalism. Other award recipients included Warren Buffet, for whom Rev. Cecil Williams of the Glide Methodist Church accepted an award. Most of the winners represented Fortune 500 companies. See the web site, www.daltonpen.com, for details about the awards program.

Local newspaper coverage of the honor bestowed on the UMV MRC included an item in The Lowell Sun, and a full story in the Westford Eagle.