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Sylva Herald staffers win five press awards
Sylva Herald Award Winners Herald photo by Cindy Turpin

The Sylva Herald won four individual and one staff award last week at the N.C. Press Association's Winter Institute in Chapel Hill. The newspaper received two firsts, two seconds and a third in the statewide competition. Two awards went to the Herald's July special section on the Sylva Fire Department's Centennial - a first place to former Herald graphic artist Jesse Gibson (front left) for his photo illustration on the cover and a second place to the staff (from left) Carey Phillips, Lynn Hotaling, Lisa Majors-Duff and Rose Hooper.

The Sylva Herald staff brought home five awards last week from the N.C. Press Association's 75th Winter Institute in Chapel Hill.

Features Editor Rose Hooper won first place in literacy feature; former Herald graphic artist Jesse Gibson took first in photo illustration; Sports Editor Carey Phillips was second in sports columns; Associate Editor Lynn Hotaling captured third in editorials; and the news staff won second place in the best special section category.

"These awards represent quite an honor," said Herald publisher Jim Gray. "Our staff works very hard every week to bring our readers a quality newspaper, and it's good to see their efforts receive statewide recognition.

"Our paper has served the county for more than 75 years with fair, in-depth coverage of local news and an unmatched commitment to publicizing community events like last summer's Sylva Fire Department Centennial," Gray continued. "These awards prove our staff ranks with any in the state and our paper holds its own with similar-sized publications across North Carolina."
Hooper's winning literacy feature, titled "Earning 'no barriers' GED," told of a local family that went back to school together. Contest judge Valerie Praytor described Hooper's story as "very personable" and said it was "very identifiable to me as a reader."

The Herald's other first place came in photo illustrations and was awarded to Gibson's cover illustration for the special section devoted to last summer's Sylva Fire Department Centennial. Gibson's design, which combined old and new fire photos in fiery shades of orange and yellow was termed "head and shoulders above the competition" by contest judge Butch Badon.

"This entry was superior. (Gibson's) use of old photos with new told the entire story," Badon said. "Intertwining the old fire photo with examples of old and new fire trucks gave the reader a clear picture of what to expect in the story. The layout was crisp and clean."

The fire department centennial special section, a combined effort of the Herald news staff, took second place among 22 entries. Conceived to heighten community awareness of the local fire department's event, the section was published the week prior to the firefighters' July 17 downtown celebration.

Contest judge Pat Culverhouse said the Herald's entry had good layout and writing and that it "gets into the heart of a fire department and its importance to a community."

To take second in the sports columns category, Phillips submitted three columns from his "From the Sports Desk" series - one about Jimmy Streater's athletic brilliance and struggle to overcome personal problems; another about a Tuscola decision to cancel a basketball game that resulted in the elimination of Smoky Mountain's traditional senior night; and a satirical look at an attempt by the United Methodist annual conference to legislate political correctness among sports mascots.

Phillips' columns were termed "very informative" by contest judge Culverhouse, who said Phillips "keeps it personal without writing about himself."

Hotaling took third place among 26 entries for three editorials - "Unplanned growth threatens county," which questioned the wisdom of high-rise development near Dillsboro; "One board's conceit stalls school additions," that addressed last summer's verbal skirmishes between school board members and county commissioners; and "We've all lost a friend," an editorial that mourned the passing of former county commissioner and longtime Sylva Elementary and Fairview Principal Bill Smith. "Hotaling gets an 'A' for her impassioned editorial voice," said contest judgeTom Rose.

Hotaling and Hooper accepted the newspaper's awards Feb. 24 in Chapel Hill.

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