News: Neillsville - Clark County Press (5 Top Awards - 1980)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Slaats, Srubas, Lyke, Harvey

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 6/12/1980

Clark County Press (5 Top Awards - 1980)

The Clark County Press continued its tradition of being a winner when it was announced this past Friday that the weekly newspaper had taken five state awards in a Wisconsin Newspaper Association better newspaper contest.

The five awards, the most The Press has won at one time, continues a long tradition. Since 1973, the newspaper has amassed 18 awards, including two national recognitions.

The awards were presented at a special banquet held during the 126th annual meeting of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, held at Telemark Lodge near Cable. There were over 1,054 entries in the contest coming from 121 newspapers in the state. Judging weas done by the editors and publishers of the Michigan Press Association.

Among the honors received was a first-place selection in the National Guard category. The “Patriot Award” was given on the basis of support to the National Guard. The Press’ entry included numerous published selections on local Guard activities, including photo coverage of the unit’s annual sojourn to Fort McCoy, and a series of ads supporting the Guard. Presenting the award to Gary and Jane Slaats, co-publishers of The Press, was General Matera. (A photo of the presentation is in this issue.)

The Appleton Post-Crescent was the daily newspaper winner in this category.

The Press also received a top honor in the best editorial page category, being edged out of first by the Columbus Journal-Republican. Judges stated that The Press entry showed good use of space devoted to editorials and opinions. (Gary Slaats designs and produces the editorial pages’ which appear in each issue.)

Fourth place (honorable mention) winnings were also recorded for The Press in “best advertising idea” (a spring promotion produced by Jane Slaats for the Neillsville Chamber of Commerce), “best sports pages.” (under the direction of then, sports editor Paul Srubas) and “best special issue” (a production for the Alice in Dairyland finals held in the county, entered by The Press, the Tribune-Record-Gleaner of Loyal, the Abbotsford Tribune-Phonograph, the Owen-Withee Enterprise and the Thorp Courier.

Also at the session, Doug Lyke, publisher of the Ripon Commonwealth-Press, was selected president of the newspaper association.

Attending the confab, besides the co-publishers, were Robert Harvey, past publisher of The Press, and his wife, Dorene. (Robert is a past president of the association.)

The association is composed of nearly 300 newspapers in Wisconsin, from the largest daily to the smallest weekly.