Cosmos wins provincial awards, national honours

Lisha Van Nieuwenhove

Ted Barris, left, and Roger Varley sport their newly acquired Gold Quills at the the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s annual awards gala. Gold Quills are presented by News Media Canada to those who have worked in the newspaper industry for 50+ years. Photo by Lisha Van Nieuwenhove

The Uxbridge Cosmos added more ‘bling’ to its awards wall on the weekend, bringing home three provincial awards and two national awards for both the newspaper and its writers.

Last Friday night, at a reception held in Collingwood, columnist Ted Barris and journalist Roger Varley were both presented with the Gold Quill Award by News Media Canada, a national trade association for the newspaper industry (print and digital) across the country. The Gold Quill Award is presented to community newspaper owners and employees who have been in the industry at least 50 years.

The Quill Awards were presented at the Collingwood reception as part of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s (OCNA) annual Independent Publisher’s Retreat and Better Newspaper Competition (BNC) Awards ceremony.

The Cosmos took home first place in the Best News Photo category for a shot taken by John Cavers, coming out on top of 20 entries. The Cosmos earned second place in the Best Headline Writing category, and Roger Varley earned an Honourable Mention for his series on the King Street Parkette in the Best Feature/News Series category.

Since becoming a member of both the OCNA and News Media Canada in 2014, the Uxbridge Cosmos has won 22 provincial, national and international awards.