Chief brings home NPA awards
BROKEN BOW - The Custer County Chief is proud to announce receiving seven awards from the Nebraska Press Association convention this past weekend in Kearney, including two first place awards for writing.
Meghan G’Schwind won First Place in Single Feature Story with her Oct. 28, 2021 article, “My first harvest.” G’Schwind wrote about her first grain harvest in Nebraska after growing up on a ranch in Wyoming. See Donnis’ column on page A2 for what judges from the New York Press Association said about Meghan’s article.
Also bringing home a first place win, this one in News Writing, was Managing Editor Mona Weatherly with, “Big boom shakes small town,” an October 28, 2021 article on the explosion in Taylor.
Second place was awarded to Mona Weatherly for her in-depth writing on 30x30 and personal columns “Itty-bitty tracking devices” and “I’ve been duped.” Of the columns, a judge commented, “It’s refreshing to see writers not afraid to talk about why information is important - and why it shouldn’t be politicized.” Second Place Breaking News Photo was given to Weatherly’s photo of debris scattered across the Taylor Park after the Oct.19 explosion.
The Chief was awarded third place for Special Section Multiple Publication Days and the Sept. 2, 2021 front page layout featuring local veterans on Dream Flights at the Broken Bow airport.
Of the special publication Progress 2021 “Bring It On!”one judge wrote, “I wish I could give out two second place awards. Good job. You can tell this was a lot of work.”
More than 2,000 entries from newspapers across the state were entered in categories for advertising, writing, photography, design and digital work.
“We know our first priority is writing and publishing for our readers, to publish what they want to see and read. We love it when we hear from our readers that they like and appreciate what we do,” Weatherly said. “Yet at the same time, it feels good to have the recognition of our peers that we are doing good work.”
Workshops at NPA offered tips on everything from photography to headlines to layout. “We picked up a lot of good ideas and will be phasing them in over the next several weeks,” General Manager Donnis Hueftle-Bullock said.