Accolades Received for Newspaper Writings

A story of water and graphic depictions of historic livestock brands associated with the Sand Hills region, as published in the Grant County News, issued at Hyannis, Nebraska, have been recognized for their exceptional quality.

The Better Newspaper Contest associated with the Nebraska Press Association, announced award-winners at their annual meeting on Saturday, April 14, 2012 in Lincoln.

Award-winning recognition for my efforts occurred in two categories, based upon entries submitted by the newspaper publisher, Sharon Wheelock.

Use of Computer Graphics - 2nd place
For the "Cattle Brands" entry associated with the paper's two stories on Heritage Ranches and Heritage Brands. The stock brands story included graphics depicting the hot-iron brands of the era, and associated details to convey how newspaper ads presented essential details during this early time for ranching within the sandhills region. This is the first time the Grant County News has won an award in this category, according to an article on the front page of the April 19 issue of the newspaper.

Two examples of those graphic images are given here in color, though they were issued in black-and-white. They feature a custom graphic of a cow or horse, designed to convey historic stock brands in a standard manner.
Single Feature Story - 2nd place for the story: "Amelia - the Village of Water" as written during the weeks when there was a great focus on the Keystone XL pipeline, which was not mentioned within the story. The story emphasis was on the people and the water as they knew it.

This story had an origin of uncertainty last year, but the effort went ahead on a weekend while in Holt County during an autumn visit. The opportunity to talk with the "mayor" made all the difference.

There were more than 4300 entries representing 13 daily and 83 weekly newspapers. Members of the Alabama Press Association were judges.