The Valley Echo was recognized recently at the Canadian Community National Newspaper Awards, earning two second place and a third place in three general excellence categories.

For newspapers with circulation numbers of 1,250 to 1,999, The Valley Echo took second place for best all-round newspaper, second place for best editorial page and third place for best front page. Alberta’s Macleod Gazette took first place in all three of those categories.

“The Valley Echo team has placed significant time and effort on improving the editorial content this past year and a half, so to win not one, but three Canadian Community Newspaper awards is rewarding and deeply satisfying,” said publisher Rose-Marie Fagerholm. “With two second place finishes and one third place in our circulation category and among a total of 2,688 entries submitted by 273 publications that makes us nothing but proud.”

Last year, The Valley Echo earned a blue ribbon for being in the top third of entries in its circulation class. The newspaper — which recently underwent a redesign — has been serving the valley for almost 60 years and is considered the region’s heritage paper. The two editions of The Valley Echo submitted to judges were the January 30th and August 21st editions of the paper.