Town crier wins two awards

St Hubert's Island resident Mr Stephen Clarke has won two awards at this year's Australian Town Crier Championships in Parkes on September 14.

Mr Clarke placed third in Australia and achieved second in the Best Cry category at the national championships.

Sixteen town criers from four states represented their regions at the championships which tested "the willpower, physical stamina, voice projection and clarity of the town criers competing."

Gosford mayor Cr Chris Holstein congratulated Mr Clarke for his "excellent result" in the championships.

"Stephen is a great ambassador for the Central Coast region and Gosford City and we are very proud of him," Cr Holstein said.

"Stephen has always represented our city in a professional manner and we are honoured to call him our very own official town crier.

Mr Clarke has been Gosford City's official town crier for the past 18 years and since then has represented the City of Gosford at the Australian Town Crier Championships at various locations around the country.

In 2005, Mr Clarke competed at the championships against 65 of the world's best town criers from New Zealand, France, Poland, Netherlands, America, England, Canada, Belgium and Australia.

He was successfully placed as the third best town crier in the world and still holds that title.

Press release, 3 Oct 2008 Lisa-Maree Schell, Gosford Council