Winners of the 2014 Pulitzer Prizes celebrated in myriad of ways this week. They drank champagne in the newsroom. They thanked their colleagues and their families. And in some cases, they choked up, remembering the stories that they told.

Here are some of those noteworthy moments:

1) THE SOURCES WHO WANT TO BE HEARD: Washington Post’s Eli Saslow, who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting for his series on food stamps, choked up at the end of his newsroom speech, which was posted on The Washington Post’s website. He explained how he and his colleague had to insist that the family they were covering not share the food they had waited hours in a food bank line to obtain — with them.  “It was near the end of the month. Their fridge was essentially empty. There was nothing left to do but to wake up and go wait in this food line in southeast D.C. .. People crave to be understood, and they want to know what they’re doing matters, and I think our journalism should validate that – it should take good care of the trust they are giving us to come into their lives.”

2) PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORIES: When the Boston Globe won the 2014 Pulitzer for Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings, photographer John Tlumacki recounted the horrors of the bombing. He told CNN: “I can look across the street and I still have a vision of where everybody was that day that I photographed. There was Celeste Corcoran who lost both her legs and her husband, who takes his belt off and puts it around one of the legs and gets another belt and puts it around the other leg, she lost both her legs… I think my photographs help people heal, I think people are aware of the horror that went on that day, whether they contributed money to the one fund or just said a prayer. I think those photos hit home and people will always remember them.”

3) CHAMPAGNE IN THE NEWSROOM: The Colorado Gazette’s staff celebrated the 2014 Pulitzer for National Reporting, won by Dave Philipps, for his three-day investigative piece about war veterans, with a bottle of champagne as editor Joe Hight announced his win.

“Pop it! Come on! Pop it!” shouted Hight.

Everyone cheered loudly when a fountain of liquid erupted from the bottle, opened by photographer Michael Ciaglo. Video of the newsroom celebration can be found on the Gazette’s website.

Staff celebration at The Gazette in Colorado when reporter Dave Philipps wins Pulitzer Prize. (Source: Video screenshot)

4) TEACH A MAN TO CARTOON, AND HE WILL WIN A PULITZER:  “And last week I won a fishing contest up in North Carolina,” quipped Charlotte Observer cartoonist Kevin Siers, who had won the 2014 Pulitzer for Editorial Cartooning. In a video posted on the Observer’s website, he acknowledged his coworkers, editors and publishers for the cartoon-friendly environment that they foster. “They are really committed to make this work and create an atmosphere where cartooning and that kind of opinion-making can thrive, and I feel like they always have my back, no matter how things heated up.”

This story includes contributions from news editor Lisa Rossi.