Echo publisher gets award for community work
Sara Hershoff is the 2017 recipient of the Insurance Bureau of Canada Community Award in memory of Mary Knowles.
The owner and publisher of The Creemore Echo was recognized for her many contributions to the community, both professional and volunteer, at the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s gala dinner and awards ceremony in Richmond Hill on April 20.
The award, coordinated by the Ontario Community Newspapers Foundation with the support of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, recognizes dedicated newspaper employees who are constantly making a difference within their communities, in memory of Knowles, a dedicated newspaper employee and active community member who died of breast cancer in 1996.
Past recipient Lois Tuffin, editor-in-chief of Peterborough This Week, Kawartha Lakes This Week and Brock Citizen, paid tribute to Hershoff highlighting almost two decades of dedication to the newspaper and many community boards and committees, before being presented the award by members of Knowles’ family.
Hershoff began working at The Creemore Echo in 2001 and worked her way up the ranks to become publisher in 2011. She recently took ownership of the newspaper, committing to preserving its hyper local focus in order to best serve its readers.
She is also the longest serving volunteer board member of the Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society, having joined in 2000. She has worked with the Tea and History event committee and helped initiate the Festival of the Arts. Hershoff is also volunteer treasurer of the BIA, and a member of the boards for Station on the Green and Avening Hall, which she has developed into a premier concert venue attracting top billed musicians. Hershoff helped launch the sAvening campaign to raise money and awareness about community-owned halls, out of which came the idea for a multi-hall event that grew to become the Small Halls Festival.
Hershoff also assists with the New Farm’s Farms for Change event, which has grown over the years to raise more than $100,000 annually for The Stop Community Food Centre and Community Food Centres Canada. Those lucky enough to get tickets sample fare from celebrity chefs and are entertained by the likes of The Tragically Hip, Stars and Sam Roberts.
Photo: Lois Tuffin (from left), editor in chief of Peterborough This Week, Kawartha Lakes This Week and Brock Citizen, presents the Insurance Bureau of Canada Community Award in memory of Mary Knowles to Sara Hershoff, with members of her family, son Ben Riche and brother David Traplin.
