Two newsletters produced by UUP members earned a total of five awards for outstanding writing and design.

The Active Retiree and the Farmingdale Unifier were feted at the annual NYSUT journalism awards luncheon at the 2009 RA in Buffalo. The competition is sponsored by New York Teacher.

The Active Retiree won Awards of Merit for general excellence and best editorial, and an honorable mention for best news story.

“This well-designed, well-written and well-edited newsletter sends a clear message: Retirees as activists and difference-makers,” is how the judges described the newsletter, which is published for the more than 3,300 retiree members of UUP.

The editorial “Health care should be a priority in this election,” by Judith Wishnia of SUNY Stony Brook, also earned high marks from the judges. “This editorial is not just well-written and well-organized, it does an excellent job of backing up its point with a number of factual references.”

Cortland UUPer Jo Schaffer’s winning article on the state’s Rural Aging Summit was praised for its “solid reporting.”

The Farmingdale Unifier, edited in 2008 by UUPer Yolanda Pauze, received a First Award for general excellence and an Award of Merit for best front page among locals with memberships between 651 and 1,000.

“The clean, attractive layout and excellent content make this publication interesting and easy to read,” the judges wrote.

The winning cover, which extolled the contract provisions for family leave, used “graphics and shaded boxes to add interest without being distracting. Nicely done.”

— Karen L. Mattison