Cooch, Calabro, Eddy

Win Vt. Press Awards

Three Herald staffers were honored with awards from the Vermont Press Association at its annual awards banquet last week.

Sandy Vondrasek Cooch won first place for best local newswriting in the non-daily category for several stories about the war deaths of several area servicemen.

Herald photographer Tim Calabro snagged another first place award for best non-daily general news photo for his nighttime photograph of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Sharon rest area.

And veteran photographer Bob Eddy took third place in the non-daily feature photo category.

All three have received numerous awards in the past, but acknowledged that it was nice to be recognized for their hard work.

The banquet’s speaker this year was Vermont State Police Col. James Baker, who discussed his efforts to make the state police "the most transparent agency in state government."

Since taking charge of the state’s largest police force a year ago, Baker has instituted a number of reforms, including email press releases from each of VSP’s 12 stations.

Baker told the assembled newspeople that he would continue to foster a working relationship between the state police and the media.

Also during the meeting, outgoing VPA President Sabina Haskell, editor of the Brattleboro Reformer, was honored for her three years directing the statewide association. Before her official departure, Haskell confirmed the newly elected VPA officers, who are:

President, Bethany Dunbar, editor, The Chronicle of Barton; vice president, Maria Archangelo, associate publisher, Stowe Reporter/Waterbury Record; secretary, Robin Smith, Orleans County Bureau Chief, Caledonian Record; treasurer, Dick Drysdale, publisher, The Herald of Randolph.

The organization also has directors representing various corners of Vermont: Northwest, John Flowers, staff writer, Addison Independent; Northeast, Ross Connelly, co-publisher and editor, Hardwick Gazette; Southern, Randall Smathers, editor, Rutland Herald; and from St. Michael's Journalism School, Dr. Traci Griffith, professor of journalism and mass communication.