There were some very proud and happy people gathered around Table 18 at the 2014 Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards competition this past Saturday evening at the swanky and gorgeous River Rock Casino banquet room in Richmond.
They included Osoyoos Times’ general manager Steve Ceron, editor Keith Lacey and reporter-photographer Richard McGuire, who all basked in the glow of having our newspaper named the very best publication produced among the member newspapers that belong to the British Columbia and Yukon Newspaper Association (BCYNA) for a town our size.
The Osoyoos Times captured the General Excellence Gold Award for newspapers with a circulation of between 2,500 and 5,000, meaning the judges voted our little paper as the best of its kind in the entire province.
McGuire captured another gold medal for Best Spot News Photograph for the remarkable front page photo that appeared on the Aug. 21, 2013 edition of the paper.
That photograph captured the amazing image of a provincial water bomber dropping huge amounts of retardant on a fire that had broke out near Spotted Lake near Osoyoos in the late afternoon.
To win two gold awards in one of the most prestigious newspaper competitions in the entire country is a testament to the talented professionals who work at the Osoyoos Times.
But it’s also an award that we proudly share with all of our regular readers and advertisers.
Just as it takes a committed effort from every member of our staff to produce a quality community newspaper that everyone can be proud of, it takes the support of our readers and advertisers to ensure we can run a successful business.
We are all fortunate to live and work in Osoyoos in what is truly one of the most beautiful parts of this wondrous country we call Canada.
We have a small, but very dedicated staff who work at the Osoyoos Times and we’re proud to have had all of our hard work be recognized by our peers in the newspaper industry. We’re very proud to have captured these major awards and we’re equally as proud to share our success with the people who support us.
Osoyoos can be a very quiet little town during the winter months, but it can also be an insanely busy place that turns into a small city when the tens of thousands of tourists start pouring in every spring, summer and fall.
But it’s the local residents and their interesting stories that ensure we can produce an interesting newspaper every week.
We promise the employees who work at the Osoyoos Times will remain committed to telling those stories and promoting local businesses through advertising each and every week.
We thank all of our regular readers and advertisers for their continued support and hope to continue producing an award-winning paper for many months and years to come.
