CALEB NICKERSON
SAINT ADELE June 8, 2018
On June 8, the staff of The Equity travelled to Mont Gabriel Resort in St. Adele, Qc. for the Quebec Community Newspaper Association’s (QCNA) Better Newspapers Competiton and came home with a good bit of hardware.
The QCNA represents the province’s English-language community papers, and the competition offers workshops and networking sessions for those in the business.
Though the organizers saved the announcement till the end of the evening, the highlight of the awards ceremony was former Equity publisher and owner Rosaleen Dickson being posthumously recognized with the Lindsay Crysler Outstanding Achievement Award, the QCNA’s most prestigious honour.
The award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to the community newspaper industry, and there are likely few as qualified as her.

In addition to publishing The Equity and several other newspapers in the ’60s and ’70s, she worked with several local television stations and was also a founding member of CHIP radio in Fort Coulonge.
The award was accepted by her sons, and current Equity publishers, Ross and Charles Dickson.
The current staff of the paper had a good showing as well, taking home first place in the Newspaper Promotion category for their all-candidates debate held on Oct. 12.
Editor Chris Lowrey was nominated for Best News Photo and Best Photo Essay for his coverage of last year’s spring flooding (May 10, 2017). He won first place out of 15 entries in both categories, and as a result, was awarded the Outstanding Photojournalism award for 2018.
Lowrey also placed second in the Best Sports Story category, for his coverage of Bryan Murray’s celebration of life (Aug. 30, 2017 edition).
Assistant Editor Caleb Nickerson took home first place in the Headline Writing category, in a field of eight entries, with entries such as, “Ya put ‘er in the cabbage, bud!” and “Protestants put on poultry party.”
General Manager Ann Taylor placed second out of 22 entries in the Best Large Format Advertising Creation category for her flu vaccination ad on the back cover of The Equity’s Sept. 27, 2017 edition.
The paper also placed second out of nine entries for Best Feature Page and Dave Moore was awarded an honourable mention in the Best Front Page category for last year’s Canada Day wraparound cover.
In addition, long-serving Equity contributor Chris Judd received a Correspondent Award for his much-loved column, “Outstanding in His Field.”