Boerne Star sports editor Kerry Barboza received quite a surprise at the recent Granite Media Partners Christmas party on Dec. 10.
Barboza was named what Granite Media Partners owner described as more than an employee of the year – more specifically, he received the Granite Yearly Partner Award at the party held in Taylor, Texas.
“I had no idea this was coming,” Barboza said, “but I kept wondering why people were asking me back in in the fall if I was going to attend this year’s Christmas party.
“I would tell them, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing next week and you’re asking me in September about what I’m going to be doing in December.’” Granite Media Partners President and CEO Daniel Philhower presented the award near the end of the party. GMP owns The Boerne Star.
“I was honored, humbled and surprised by the award,” Barboza said. “It was truly a blessing.”
Philhower thanked Barboza for his more than 20 years of service to the Star. Barboza will celebrate his 21st year with the paper in February and is the second longest tenured employee of the company that features 10 newspapers as well as other publications such as monthly magazines.
While being overseen by numerous editors and publishers in his tenure, Barboza has churned out quality work for two decades.
“He’s really one of the most level- headed, hard-working people on our team at The Star,” Managing Editor Zachary-Taylor Wright said of Barboza. “But he knows how to keep things light and the office chuckling too.”
Barboza received a personal letter from Philhower, a bonus check and a plaque made of actual granite as part of the award.
In the letter sent to Barboza, Philhower wrote, “You have consistently shown your dedication to the job and helped guide the Boerne Star team through many difficult times and transitions. The Boerne Star would not be as well-trusted as it is today without your presence, and you are truly an asset to the Boerne Star team as well as the Granite Media Partners family. Kendall County is truly blessed to have someone like you covering their sports and events.”
Several executive team members had nothing but kind words to say about Barboza after his honor.
'Kerry is an outstanding sportswriter and just a remarkable person,' said Thomas Edwards, executive editor for Granite Media Partners Inc. 'He has given nearly two decades of service to local readers. He truly is a shining star for the Star.'
Part of the transition that Philhower mentioned is the Star going from a Tuesday and Friday edition to an online Wednesday edition and a weekend print edition starting last August.
Part of that weekend edition included Friday night football game stories and photos from the four country 11-man varsity teams – Boerne Champion, Boerne High, Comfort and Geneva School of Boerne.
The Boerne Star was ready for readers to pick up at newsstands on Saturday morning and delivered to their mailboxes later that day.
“It was a lot of work staying late at the office on Friday night, but it was definitely worth it, especially since Boerne High had such a great year and the readers could pick up the paper and read about them and the rest of the teams the next morning,” Barboza said. “It was definitely a team effort though, between the coaches’ sending in results and stats, photographers sending in photos that night, a freelance writer helping to cover games, our staff at the office helping with pagination, our delivery driver and then the printing press in Taylor working to get the paper done overnight. It couldn’t have been accomplished without everybody doing their part.”
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