Three members of Daily Globe staff honored at Good News Awards

MARQUETTE — Three members of the Daily Globe newsroom received recognition during the 16th annual Good News Awards in Marquette Thursday.

Sports editor Jason Juno, community editor Michelle Thomasini and reporter Cortney Ofstad all received awards during the event, which featured 41 award winners representing 17 media organizations from across the Upper Peninsula.

“We were looking for meaningful, community-inspiring material, and we found it,” Rev. Geri Hamlen, of the United Methodist Church, said.

All of the recipients were honored for spreading “good news” throughout the community. Photographs, videos, radio broadcasts and written stories were judged by the judicatory heads of the Presbyterian, United Methodist, Catholic, Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran churches across the U.P.

“The good news is not simply meant to balance our lives, rather, good news raises us up as human beings,” Rev. Elbert Dulworth, of the Marquette district of the United Methodist Church, said.

Juno was awarded in the feature story category for writing about Watersmeet student Kody Caudill playing basketball for the Nimrods with cerebral palsy.

“It’s nice that sports can have a broader scope,” Juno said.

Judges said that Juno’s story had a “terrific opening paragraph that led into a solid feature article. The compassionate maturity shown by young men on both sides of the game came through clearly. The article highlights that while winning is a good thing, it is not everything. The article was emotionally moving in a good way.”

Ofstad was awarded for a photo of the Miners Mural being installed in downtown Ironwood by a crew from RJ Hoeft Construction of Hurley.

“It was great to capture something that shows the rich history that not only Ironwood has, but the entire U.P., with mining,” Ofstad said.

Comments on Ofstad’s photo from judges said, “Wow, here is a beautifully-composed image. A band of brothers was apparent in the mix of live workers and the mural workers seeming to watch them with silent, boisterous comments. The four workers were intent on their work, not posed and mugging for the camera. A thought that comes to mind is ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ — hardworking men who learned hard work and discipline from earlier hardworking men.”

Thomasini received an honorable mention for her story featuring students from Ewen-Trout Creek attending a showing of “The Hobbit,” after reading the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien in class.

Judges said Thomasini “helped the reader visualize the exuberant response of the kids to the learning opportunity. The article shows how teachers can make reading fun by pairing academic study with an unusual outing.

“The importance of the cross-generational support of the Community Youth Enrichment Team organization is also clear. This article was good news of a community working together.”