STAFF REPORT
A Saturday luncheon in San Antonio ended up being a thrilling event for the staff of the Hays Free Press, as they took home many first place awards, and numerous other certificates, in the South Texas Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
First place plaques were awarded to the newspaper for Headline Writing, Page Design and to Bob Barton and Cyndy Slovak-Barton for Editorial Writing and to Brenda Stewart for Serious Column Writing.
Judges described Stewart’s columns: “Powerful words;” editorial writing: “WOW. Good pieces, good dialogue;” headline writing: “LOVE the play on words.”
In other categories, the Hays Free Press won second in General Excellence, second in Special Sections, honorable mention in Community Coverage.
Individual staff member entries were awarded to Clint Younts for Humorous Column Writing (honorable mention), Lincoln Ramirez and Sean Kimmons for feature photos (third place), Cyndy Slovak-Barton for sports photos (second place) and to Sean Kimmons for Journalist of the Year (third place).
The South Texas Press Association has more than 58 newspapers in its territory, from the Rio Grande Valley to the Gulf Coast, to north of Austin and west to Ozona.
The staff will hear about how its entries fared in the statewide Texas Press Association contest in June.
