I created this award in 1991 with the sponsorship of the Minister-President of Walloon Region and of the Minister of Regional Public Works. The second gives stickers "You 're Welcome in Wallonie", to be joined to the award.

The Wallonie Award is designed and printed by my old fellow ON7YF, Fred LIBERT, a professional printer and member of the Radio club of Gembloux-Chastre. He enjoyed to play with a new computer program to do it.

The purpose of the award is promotion of Walloon dynamism in the new institutional landscape of Federal Kingdom of Belgium.

Number 001 is to ON6RT, Louis DAEMS, from Liege. He sends his application a few hours before ON5KI, Nadine COLLART, from Verviers. A large advertising was done during a ham rally around Liege and Verviers.

First "foreign" applicant was G4VHB, Jules HELIAS, from Corfee Mullen, in England… but he was native from Belgium.

Very fast the award begins to be known and I receive a lot of letters, from Wallonie and also from Flanders. Many Walloon hams are very proud to have it hanging on the radio station wall. Some ask me 4 awards. One for each previous call sign (ONL, ON1, ON2 and ON4). Some special numbers were "reserved" (069 by ON4VS, 073 by ON4VS/mm, 088 by xyl ON2KZA).

The award is also a very original souvenir to foreign radio amateurs… They are attributed "Honoris Causa"… Best is to give it with the frame…

When some Gembloux-Chastre radioclub members visited the National Ham Station ON4UB in Brussels, they gave an award to the shack manager. It was an incredible very heavy beer party on the Grand Place… Manneken Piss (ON4MKP) had the hiccups…

In November 1991, the first page of our national hams newspaper (CQ-QSO) shows Wallonie Award. Foreign newspapers gave also the rules and our award began an international career: Megahertz Magazine, Radio REF (France), Swedish Ham Review, Diplom Interest Group (Germany), …

In July 1998, American CQ MAGAZINE (50.000 reader's) gives a very good article about the award, writing by the famous Ted MELINKOVSKY, K1BV, DX Directory Award Editor. He writes: It is a good example of making excellent use of the talent of a club member. By E-mail, he told me that the award looks fine.

The YI1BGD's award is the subject of an incredible adventure. Irakian ham YI1AFC, Dr Adel M. Aswad Al-Farrajy, from Baghdad applied for it. Because Gulf war embargo, I sent it 5 times an award, before one reach Adel... Later, Irakian Ministry of Information to the Baylon Festival in Irak invited me. Unfortunately, I was not able to do the trip.

Since the beginning, more than 210 awards have been delivered. Apply NOW!…

The list of the award owners is on the Radio-club of Gembloux-Chastre web page at http://www.on6gx.be/points_of_presence.htm