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Wool Festival Book Cover: Best Cover (special section) by Kentucky Press Association
By Carolyn Reid
The annual Kentucky Press Association’s Winter Convention ended with the awards’ ceremony, and The Falmouth Outlook showed up big time for the event, winning 39 advertising awards and 10 editorial awards.
Ninety-one newspapers are in the Weekly 1 Division.
Jessie Beckett, sometimes combined with Sam McClanahan and/or publisher Neil Belcher, pulled in 16 first-place awards for ads in several categories.
1st Place awards
• Department/Discount/Jewelry -- Signed by Heather (Jessie Beckett)
• Hardware/Appliance -- Malva’s Place Appliances (Jessie Beckett)
• Financial -- Heritage Bank (Jessie Beckett)
• Professional Services -- Johnson’s (in the Pendleton County Guide; Jessie Beckett and Sam McClanahan)
• Real Estate --Sibcy Cline (Wool Fest Guide; Jessie Beckett and Sam McClanahan)
• Clothing Store--Randy’s Clothing (Jessie Beckett)
• Multiple advertiser/ “Sig” page -- Meet Your Merchant--Edward Jones (Jessie Beckett, Sam McClanahan)
• Healthcare/Medical -- Family Care Assoc. (Jessie Beckett, Sam McClanahan)
• Entertainment/Dining -- El Paso Mexican (Jessie Beckett, Sam McClanahan)
• Best cover from special section -- Wool Fest (Jessie Beckett)
• Agriculture/Lawn and Garden -- Haydon’s (Jessie Beckett, Sam McClanahan)
• Best Political Ad -- David Cooper (Jessie Beckett, Sam McClanahan)
• Best Use of Color -- Literacy Carnival (Jessie Beckett)
• Best Ad Series -- Meet Your Merchant (Jessie Beckett, Sam McClanahan, Neil Belcher)
• Best Holiday Ad -- Shell Auto Christmas (Jessie Beckett, Sam McClanahan)
• Special Events -- Wool Fest Ad (Jessie Beckett)
• 1st Place General Excellence
The team also placed second and/or third in the following categories
2nd & 3rd Place awards
• Department/Discount/Jewelry (2nd)
• Automotive (2nd and 3rd)
• Hardware/Appliance (2nd)
• Food and Alcohol (3rd)
• Clothing store (2nd)
• Healthcare/Medical (3rd)
• Entertainment/Dining (2nd and 3rd, a sweep of the category)
• Special Sections/Preprints/Special Publications/Magazines (2nd and 3rd)
• Best cover from Special Sections (2nd)
• Group Promotion (2nd and 3rd)
• Agriculture/Lawn and Garden (2nd and 3rd, a sweep)
• Best Political Ad (2nd and 3rd, a sweep)
• Best Holiday Ad (2nd and 3rd, a sweep)
• Special Events (2nd and 3rd, a sweep)
On the editorial side, Scott Collins received one of two first place awards for the publication. The editorial staff often relied on his wit for catchy headlines, and he was a shoe-in for first place in the Best Headline Writer division. Entries were collected not long after his passing, and the Outlook staff had a hard time choosing his best. He won with the following headline submissions:
• Lady Panthers leave with Cat Scratch Fever
• Ladycats Pluck the Eagles
• Ladycats can’t corral the Colts
He also won third place in the Best Sports Columnist division with his beloved NASCAR column.
Other writers who placed were:
• Sports Feature: Sam McClanahan, 2nd for his sports feature on Aidan Kerns
• Best Editorial: Carolyn Reid, 3rd for the Falmouth City Council Halloween vote of 2021
• Feature Story: Carolyn Reid, 3rd for “We do recover,” about Shellie Hall who is successfully recovering from addiction
• Best Enterprise or analytical story: Carolyn Reid, 2nd for the Klee Property and Project Abigail’s plan for that property
• Best Investigative story: Janet Scanlon and Carolyn Reid, 2nd for the library salary series
• Best Use of Multimedia/Social Media: David Jones and Carolyn Reid, 2nd for the story regarding bus stop laws
Owner/Publisher Neil Belcher’s words reflected the feelings of the entire staff. “I am very proud of the work our staff does each week to keep our readers informed. It is nice to have that hard work rewarded by recognition by our peers through the KPA awards.”
The staff thanks our readers and subscribers for your support. Your feedback helps the staff know what you want to hear, what stories are important to you. We not only will try to keep that up, but we will continue to do our best to present our best.
On to January 2024!