Wayne E. Rivet, the longtime editor of The Bridgton News, and his wife, Susan, have purchased the weekly newspaper from the Shorey family, which owned and operated it for more than 140 years.

Stephen Shorey, who joined the newspaper in 1973 and was publisher and president of the Bridgton News Corp., decided to retire this year. His search for a new owner led him to Rivet, who joined the staff in 1984 and worked his way up from general reporter to sports editor and then editor.

Under Rivet, The Bridgton News was named Newspaper of the Year among larger weeklies in the Maine Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. The paper won third-place awards for General Excellence in the 2010 and 2011 contests.

Shorey’s parents, the late Eula and Henry Shorey, were inducted into the MPA Hall of Fame in 1999.

In a story in The Bridgton News on July 26, Stephen Shorey’s sister Mary said, “During their lifetimes, and in particular the 1950s through the 1980s, my parents … focused much of their attention on the life of the town and the production of The Bridgton News. The paper was such a central part of our family’s existence that we often thought of it as a member of the family. … We are pleased that the BNews stayed a part of the Shorey family throughout my parents’ lifetimes and are equally pleased that it will stay in The Bridgton News family with ownership being passed down to someone who truly cares about the newspaper’s future and the town of Bridgton.”

In the same story, Rivet said, “We are truly blessed to be given this opportunity to carry forward the Shorey family’s tradition of journalistic integrity, the relentless drive to inform the reading public and a commitment to make a positive impact upon the community we serve. … I have the utmost respect for the high standards the Shorey family developed in over 100 years of ownership and will strive to produce a newspaper each week that reflects those qualities.”

Read the story in The Bridgton News.