The Berndt Toast Gang (aka NCS Long Island Chapter) will be honored with the Gold Key award at the 80th Annual Reuben Awards in Columbus, Ohio, August 7th.
The National Cartoonists Society is honored to announce that The Berndt Toast Gang (aka the NCS Long Island Chapter) will be awarded the Gold Key. Awarded by unanimous vote of the NCS Board of Directors, The Gold Key honors the recipient as a member of the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame.
This year, the Board made the unique decision to award the Gold Key to not one individual, but to the chapter known as the Berndt Toast Gang in celebration of a remarkable milestone: 60 years of cartoonists gathering every month on Long Island — a tradition that predates the chapter itself. Those early gatherings inspired the late Bill Hoest, a beloved Long Island cartoonist and NCS President, to champion the idea of regional chapters within the Society. In a very real sense, what began as a group of cartoonists meeting regularly on Long Island gave rise to the entire NCS chapter system. The Berndt Toast Gang didn’t just build a community — they helped build ours.
Under the leadership of Chapter Chair Adrian Sinnott, the Berndt Toast Gang has continued to foster the sense of community, energy, and spirit that makes the chapter so special. While this award reflects the collective efforts of the entire chapter, Adrian’s leadership has played a vital role in its success. We are honored to invite Adrian to accept the award on behalf of the chapter and to pass it along to future chapter leadership.
We look forward to honoring the Berndt Toast Gang at the Reuben Awards Banquet on Friday, August 7th in Columbus, Ohio, part of the annual NCS Conference August 6-8th.
