After the glitz and glamour of the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, the spotlight shifted to Minneapolis for last weekend's Upper Midwest Regional Emmy Awards.

Before the ceremony, the recognizable faces from local networks gathered at Crave restaurant in downtown Minneapolis to celebrate and raise money for scholarships.

"It's local regional television's biggest night," said Jason DeRusha, WCCO weekend anchor and president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Upper Midwest Chapter, which covers five states. "There are a lot of awards in broadcasting, but I think Emmy is the most prestigious."

One of the recipients was Ron Schara. The host of "Minnesota Bound" received a lifetime achievement award. "What I've brought to the table from an outdoor TV perspective is that I'm a storyteller," he said.

He recalled one story about a Minnesota man that shows what the medium of television can really do. "You can imagine how I got in his boat; he started the motor; he drove the boat; he dropped the anchor; he put the minnow on the hook; he reeled in a fish; he took the fish off of the hook, and he threw it back," Schara said. "And he did it all with no arms. What a lesson on the human spirit."

Over 16 years, "Minnesota Bound" also captured the human-canine connection. Schara said he never expected to have a dog as his sidekick, but Raven, a black lab, shared the spotlight, as did Raven's red bandana.

"It was an accident," Schara said. "The black absorbs the lights, so he looked like a pile of blankets with eyes, and when I put the red farmer's handkerchief on him, it was magic."

And that's the magic of television.

Sara Glassman • 612-673-7177