I still love the community newspaper business

All of my friends are either retired or passed away. For someone who’s been employed since I was 15 and now six weeks away from my 66th birthday, I’m not sure if either is an acceptable option.

Although I gripe more than I used to – heck, who doesn’t – I still love the community newspaper business. When you have the honor of working beside talented friends like we have here at Clay Today, you look forward to waking up and turning on the computer every morning.

Now the rest of the business knows what I’m talking about.

Our little paper with a strong voice won five national and five statewide awards in the past two weeks. While that’s an impressive number, I truly believe we deserved more.

“Both the ACP and FPA awards recognize the recipient’s talent, hard work and professionalism in delivering high-quality publications that inform, entertain and connect with their audience,” Publisher Farris Robinson said. “These awards serve as a testament to the recipient’s commitment to excellence and dedication to journalism’s craft.”

Sports Editor Randy Lefko finished first in Sports Features by the Association Community Publishers and the Florida Press Association for “Our New Hero: Conner McKay. Heaven gets an all-star defensive end, #CONNER7STRONG.” The 10-year-old boy died of cancer in his brainstem on Jan. 31, 2022. Lefko wrote, “For me, the news was a punch in the stomach for a beautiful person who personified love of being a teammate in a sport.”

I never met Conner, but he became my hero, too.

Our incredible staff, including graphic designers Michele McNeill, Lisa Murphy, Kathy Roy and Sheila Holcombe, worked tirelessly to create Florida Press Association’s Best Special Section, “Clay County Agricultural Fair: Big Wheels and Pig Squeals.”

I believe our Football Kickoff magazine was every bit as good. I guarantee it will win next year – if our fair guide doesn’t repeat.

Holcombe turned in another ACP first-place effort. She won for her color ad larger than a quarter page for Vito’s Pizza.

We also won three second-place awards.

Kylie Cordell, who worked as an intern, wrote an incredible FPA profile on Santa Claus. The interview was masterfully done as if they both sat by a roaring fire and had a serious conversation.

One of her quotes was: “Toys are constantly changing,” Santa Claus said. “They have more bells, whistles, gigabytes and bandwidth. It is truly fascinating. There is so much more creativity in a toy, too much possibly. As a toy maker, I’m always fascinated by new toys.”

You’re blessed when you work with that kind of imagination.

I finished second in FPA in headline writing. I tagged a story about Pastor John Sanders’ annual pork butt sale to benefit the Vineyard Transitional Center with the headline: “I like pork butts and I cannot lie.”

The ACP recognized the designers’ “Andrew Shapiro Award for Cancer Awareness” with their cancer-focused special section.

The FPA also liked one of my serious columns, “Message to activists, Disney: Leave our children alone,” by voting it third in the state.

The graphics and designer staff finished third in ACP for the Most Improved Front Page Banner, matched by Murphy’s third-place ACP ad for Hudson and Gracie half-page ad in the Fitness, Fashion and Beauty special section.

Our sister paper, the Ponte Vedra Recorder, also garnered a first-place ACP award with Amber Anderson’s Health and Medical color ad.

It was a decent haul for both newspapers. It’s nice to be recognized for hard work, but we’re just getting started. You can expect more plaques next year.

We took a moment to pat each other on the back. Then we returned to work because our readers deserve our best efforts.