Emery County Progress wins general excellence award at Utah Press Better Newspaper contest

By Patsy Stoddard
Editor

The Emery County Progress took home 24 awards from the Utah Press Association Better Newspaper contest 2017 on Saturday night in Sandy.
The Emery County Progress was awarded the top honor for the year, the General Excellence award for group one, newspapers with a circulation of 2,500 or less.
Awards included a first place for best news photograph. This was taken by Patsy Stoddard, editor and the subject was a herd of sheep which encompassed the entire road between Emery High and Orangeville. The sheep are trailed each year to their summer range by the Jensen family.
First place went to Gary Arrington for the best sports column, Sports Stuff. First place in best circulation promotion and first place in best staff produced ad.
First place for the best feature photograph a photo taken by Patsy Stoddard of the Elf Musical produced at Emery High in December.
The paper received Second place awards in: Best website, best special section, best advertising idea, best use of ad color, best sports page, best photo page, best news coverage, best editors column, best feature series, best general news story. The best feature series spotlighted the coke ovens, CCC camps, cowboy poetry and the ghost towns of Emery County. The best editor’s column was editor’s notes by Patsy Stoddard. The best photo page featured, “Miss Emery lights up the Miss Utah Stage.”
The special section was a compilation of area businesses and what they offer the county called The Experts. Best sports pages featured football, soccer, rodeo, baseball, bouldering, basketball, tennis, golf, cross country, wrestling, volleyball and coverage of track. The best general news story was an article written by Patsy Stoddard on the possibility of nuclear power coming to Emery County.
The Progress was awarded Third place finishes in: Best community event which featured the Heritage Days celebration. The best lifestyle page featured students of the week, weddings, missionaries and community events. Best front page featured the front page of the newspaper each week.
The best sports photograph featured Emery soccer players. The best sports story spotlighted the bouldering in Emery County. The best news series was a three part series on suicide prevention in the county.
The best feature story was a story on the Farnsworth family that gave away their pumpkin patch. The best digital breaking news story was an article on Commissioner Keith Brady resigning his position as Emery County Commissioner.