Piscataquis Observer earns six honors in annual newspaper contest
Piscataquis Observer staff picked up a half dozen honors among the state’s smaller weekly publications division from the Maine Press Association in the 2023 MPA Better Newspaper Contest, announced on Oct. 14 during the organization’s annual conference in South Portland.
Stuart Hedstrom received first place for sports news story for his article on the opening of Foxcroft Academy’s Jim Robinson Field House in August of 2022. He also was awarded first place for education story for the launch of the virtual classroom at Piscataquis Community Elementary School last fall.
VIRTUAL LEARNING — Teacher Heidi Hall demonstrates a grade 2 lesson on dinosaurs to the SAD 4 school board in Piscataquis Community Elementary School’s new 360-degree virtual reality room — the “Pirate Portal” — during an October 2022 board meeting. A story on the classroom earned the Piscataquis Observer’s Stuart Hedstrom first-place honors in the weekly 1 education story category of the Maine Press Association’s 2023 MPA Better Newspaper Contest. The Piscataquis Observer earned six awards, including three in first place.
The Piscataquis Observer’s Valerie Royzman earned first-place honors in the local columnist category for “As my family in Ukraine braces for bombs, I watch in Maine and cling to hope” in late February 2022.
Royzman also wrote the second-place religion/spirituality story for Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church plans to become carbon neutral in January.
Hedstrom was awarded third place for his news headline “Airport building purchase will allow replacement project to take off” last October.
The Piscataquis Observer also earned third-place honors in the feature headline category for “Dover and Foxcroft failed to merge 5 times. Then women got the right to vote” in June 2022.
Journalists, editors, and advertising representatives from other out of state publications judged contest entries from weekly and daily newspapers throughout the state. A complete list of 2023 award winners will be posted on the MPA’s website at www.mainepressassociation.org.
PLAY BALL – Long-time Foxcroft Academy field hockey head coach Gene Philpot drops the ceremonial first ball for the alumni field hockey game to christen the turf named in her honor at the Jim Robinson Field House in August 2022. The Piscataquis Observer’s Stuart Hedstrom earned first-place honors in the sports news category of the Maine Press Association’s 2023 MPA Better Newspaper Contest.