Dateline: April 14, 2005

Enterprise wins regional press association awards

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Clarendon Enterprise received six first place plaques in the Panhandle Press Association’s 2004 Better Newspaper Contest during the PPA’s 95th annual convention Saturday in Amarillo.

The local paper garnered more first place honors than any other newspaper in the Division I category for weekly newspapers but narrowly lost the General Excellence award to The Canadian Record.

“We tip our hats to Laurie Ezzell Brown and her staff in Canadian for their well deserved win,” said publisher Roger Estlack. “They showed greater strength across the board than we did this year, placing in every category except one while we missed placing in three categories.

“Still, we’re very proud of our accomplishments this year, and we’ll work to keep improving the Enterprise.

“As always, it’s important to note that we couldn’t do it without our dedicated staff and the support of our readers and advertisers.”

The Enterprise received first place honors for Feature Photos by Ashlee Kidd-Estlack and Cheryl Johnson, Front Page Layout, News Writing by Ashlee Kidd-Estlack and Roger Estlack, Sports Photos by Roger Estlack, Humorous Column by Roger Estlack, and Editorials.

The paper also received second place awards for Headline Writing, Spot News Photos, Society Page, and Best Serious Column; a third place award for Advertising Initiative; and an Honorable Mention for Carrie Helms’ “Life Lesson’s” in the Serious Column category.

Judges said the Enterprise’s layout was “clean” and that it “jumps off the page.”

Enterprise news stories were praised for doing a “great job of relating facts to readers,” and its feature photos were noted for having “good composition.”

Roger Estlack’s columns about Blue Bell Ice Cream and about the rumors in advance of his actual engagement were called “witty” and “clearly the best.”

The society page was praised for its range of coverage.

The Plainview Daily Herald was the top paper in the Division II category for semi-weekly and daily newspapers.

In other convention news, three journalists were inducted into the PPA Hall of Fame, including the late Trenton Davis of the Amarillo Globe-News, Rollie Hyde of the Plainview Daily Herald, and Faye Plank of the Dalhart Daily Texan.

Attending this year’s convention and accepting the awards on the Enterprise’s behalf were publisher Roger Estlack and Web master Ashlee Kidd-Estlack.