Grant Haven Media prominent at OCNA Awards

Grant Haven Media publications won several awards at the recent Ontario Community Newspaper Association convention in Collingwood. On hand for the awards ceremony were, from left, Publisher Stewart Grant; Regional Editor Galen Simmons; Director of Business Development Heather Dunbar; Reporter Jeff Tribe; Tillsonburg Post Editor Jeff Helsdon; Simcoe Advocate Editor Chris Abbott; and Reporter Amanda Nelson.

Chris Abbott

Editor

Grant Haven Media publications were big winners at the Ontario Community Newspaper Association awards.

Held in Collingwood on April 24, the Better Newspaper Competition is an annual event that pits community newspapers against each other in a wide variety of categories.

Simcoe Advocate Editor Chris Abbott captured first in the 2025 Best Sports Section division.

Simcoe Advocate contributor Jeff Tribe won the Best Business and Finance Story category profiling Norfolk’s wineries and micro-breweries. In addition, Tribe placed second in the Best Guest/Freelance Columnist.

Tillsonburg Post editor Jeff Helsdon was the winner of the prestigious Reporter of the Year Stephen Shaw Award. Helsdon also placed third for Best Business Feature.

Tribe, Abbott and Helsdon were all long-time co-workers at the Tillsonburg News ‘back in the day.’

Michelle Foster, for the Simcoe Advocate, was recognized with an Honourable Mention in the Best Creative Ad category, along with Erin Parsons, St. Marys Independent, and Sarah Cairns for the Stratford Times. Parsons took first in Local Retail Outlet for an ad, and Tillsonburg Post designer Stacie Eden received an honourable mention for Best Use of Colour.

Long-time Tillsonburg News editor and former OCNA president, the late Bill Pratt was inducted into the OCNA Hall of Fame during the evening.

Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette. Gazette Editor Galen Simmons was third in the Health and Wellness story category.

Michelle Malvaso of The Paris Independent took the other big award of the evening, Photographer of the Year. The Independent took a pair of thirds, with Edward Lander in the Arts and Entertainment category and Chris Whelan for Best Editorial Column.

Woodstock Ingersoll Echo’s farm edition for 2025 was the second-place winner for Best Special Section. 

Connor Luczka, editor of the Stratford Times, was second for Best Editorial, circulation 8,000 and under. The Times’ Amanda Nelson was second in the Most Creative Grip and Grin Photo category and received an honourable mention in Best Guest/Freelance Column category for a piece written by Canadian musician Loreena McKennitt.

“Given that we were a small one-newspaper operation just a few years ago, it was pretty surreal to attend the gala with so many talented team members, and I was thrilled to see them recognized by their peers,” said Grant Haven publisher Stewart Grant, who was installed as the new President of the OCNA.