EdSun bash

The Edmonton Sun's 30th anniversary bash in a hangar at Fort Edmonton Park Friday night drew about 500 current and former staffers and guests.

“It was fantastic," Edmonton Sun publisher and CEO David Black says in an EdSun story. "It was after 1 a.m. when people started piling out of there.”

Among the guests, Pierre Karl Peladeau, Quebecor's CEO, Sun Media president and CEO Michael Sifton and Bill Bagshaw, the Edmonton Sun’s first publisher.

One lucky couple, Frank and Sheri Landry, won the grand prize for the evening draw and wrote about the entire evening on their blog, Landry's Laundry.

"Frank/we won a 4 day, 3 night Pacific Northwest cruise from Seattle to Victoria to Nanaimo and back, including airfare in October," says the posting. "We are pretty excited as neither of us has been on a cruise."

Black said having Bagshaw and other former Sun notables at the party was a highlight.

“It was nice to just look back and take a trip down memory lane."

The anniversary bash was held in the Blatchford Field Air Hanger at Fort Edmonton Park.

It's encouraging to see Sun Media do it up right for the 30th after the Edmonton Sun shared in cutbacks and staff cuts all of the tabloids endured prior to last summer.

Shades of the traditional pre-Quebecor Sun parties Doug Creighton used to throw to thank loyal employees.

The next milestone for Sun Media tabloids is the 20th anniversary of the Ottawa Sun on Sept. 4.