By Mark Roberts

PITTSBURGH (November 8, 2007) This afternoon, Pittsburgh's radio and advertising elite were in attendance at the 12th Annual March of Dimes Achievement in Radio awards.

For the third consecutive tear, the ceremony was held at the Riverwatch in the Strip. Hosting the gala event were the new comedy sensations, Ken Rice and David Johnson, from KDKA-TV and WPXI-TV respectively. CBS Radio's Michael Young ably opened the event, and KDKA's Larry Richert and Kelly Pigeon added the HD radio flavor. This year's show was written and produced by the struggling Mark Roberts who somehow avoided any problems with the Writers Guild.

	Monte and Zeke of Y-108 Country Crew Photo ©2007 Archie Carpenter Click photo for larger image.

Pittsburgh AFTRA members led the pack, coming away with the bulk of the talent-related awards presented.

The 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award went to Renda Broadcasting Chairman, Tony Renda, Sr. Tony's family, Cathy Renda, Natalie Mueller, John Renda and Tony Renda, Jr. presented the award. With this announcement, Renda joins these twelve radio legends:

          2006 Mike Lange
          2005 Bob Kopler
          2004 Jack Bogut
          2003 Bob Roof
          2002 Bill Hillgrove
          2001 John Garry and Larry O'Brien
          2000 Wendy King
          1999 Bill Steinbach
          1998 Robert Dickey
          1997 Myron Cope
          1996 Porky Chedwick

The March of Dimes hosts the annual competition to raise funds for the prevention of birth defects. Since its inception, the Pittsburgh A.I.R. awards has raised over $320,000 dollars to support March of Dimes breakthroughs.

Click HERE for the complete list of this year's winners and the winning audio from the official AIR Awards website, airawardspgh.org.