Dateline: April 3, 2008

Enterprise picks up regional press awards

The Clarendon Enterprise received ten plaques in the Panhandle Press Association’s 2007 Better Newspaper Contest during the PPA’s 98th annual convention Saturday in Amarillo.

The Enterprise received several awards in photography categories with pictures taken by Roger Estlack, Ashlee Estlack, Anndria Kidd, and Kari Lindsey. The paper won first place for Spot News Photos, second place for Feature Photos, and third place in Sports Photos.

Second place honors also went to the Enterprise for Best Website, Feature Writing, Sports Writing by Sandy Anderberg, and Best Society Page with the judges making note of the excellent job done by local community columns – Peggy Cockerham’s ‘Wick Picks, Kathy Spier’s Chatty Kathy, and Ashlee Estlack’s Happenings on the Hill.

The paper also received third place for Best Editorials, Front Page Layout, and Best Special Section.

“The award in the special section contest was particularly meaningful for our paper,” said publisher Roger Estlack. “We submitted the Enterprise Jr. edition that was published last April with the help of local elementary students. Most people never knew that that edition was published entirely by our junior staff at the time – Anndria Kidd and Julie (Funderburg) Shields.”

Both young ladies had been with the Enterprise for less than a year when the senior staff decided to take a trip to England, leaving them in charge.

“They faced some technical difficulties that had never come up before, dealt with them and with the fact that their only help was literally half a world away, and managed to produce the paper on time,” Estlack said. “I was extremely proud of them, and they are very deserving of recognition for that feat.”

The SWEPCO General Excellence Award in Division I this year went to The Canadian Record.

Attending this year’s convention and accepting the awards on the Enterprise’s behalf were Roger and Ashlee Estlack and Anndria Kidd.

Mrs. Estlack has been the secretary of the PPA since last October and was elected to a full term in office last Friday. As secretary she is responsible for all the operations of the organization and is largely responsible for the planning and execution of each year’s convention.

Also at the convention, former Clarendon Press publisher Don Richards was installed as the new president for the PPA, and Canadian’s Laurie Ezzell Brown and Amarillo’s late Tommy Thompson were installed in the PPA Hall of Fame.