Loyal subscribers and advertisers have often told the VOICE News staff that the pictures, stories and ads in their hometown newspaper are awesome. Now, the judges at the Nebraska Press Association Better Newspaper Contest have affirmed those accolades.

The VOICE News won four awards at the annual Nebraska Press Association convention last weekend in Kearney, and one member of the staff received a prestigious award.

VOICE News reporter Mark Mahoney, of Hickman, was named the runner-up for the Outstanding Young Nebraska Journalist Award in the weekly category. The weekly winner was Jenn Lampila, of the Crete News, and for dailies, Tom Behmer, of the Norfolk Daily News.

A select panel of judges considered among other items, the nominee’s professionalism, creativity, comments or statements on goals, impact of their work on print journalism, the community or journalistic excellence.

The awards were created and funded by Zean and Marilyn Carney, former publishers of the Wahoo Newspaper, Waverly News, Ashland Gazette and David City Banner-Press, and past president of the NPA.

An excerpt from the judges’ comments reads: "Mark Mahoney’s work proves that journalists in small towns can do big-time reporting."

"I was hoping I would win, but second place isn’t bad either," Mahoney said. "I was somewhat surprised to place, but I knew I had entered some good material.

"I entered a variety of what I thought were some of my best stories of 2008, a letter about my future journalism goals, and two recommendation letters – one from my boss, Linda Bryant, and one from my old college advisor at UNL, Mary Kay Quinlan.

"I was surprised to see my wife, Nicole, and parents at the NPA convention, but found out later they had known for a week I had placed in the top two. I was happy they were there to see me get my award. If I’m allowed to enter next year’s contest, I will do it again and hopefully place first," Mahoney said.

Mahoney teamed up with VOICE News reporter Gerry Baksys to write a series on "Volunteer Firefighting" in the VOICE News coverage area, winning the Class D Weekly In-Depth Writing Award.

The judges’ comments gave the two reporters high marks. "Great reporting and in-depth coverage. Multiple story angles kept the story from becoming old. Well done!"

"Gerry and I wrote at least five in-depth stories on the issues rural volunteer fire departments face. I appreciate the recognition for all the hard work we put into the series of articles. It took a lot of time and effort, but it was well worth it in the end," Mahoney said.

Baksys echoed his comments, "It sometimes felt as if we were engaged in building a giant machine. There was one overall story, a dearth of volunteer firefighters, but many reasons that built that story, and many issues that were caused by it. And just like a set of good instructions, I like to think Mark and I helped readers navigate through the story, which was often complex and sometimes tumultuous, to get a clear idea of what was going on, and how it was impacting their lives," he said.

For the second year in a row, the VOICE News won the Class D Weekly Signature Page Award with the Happy 4th of July pull-out poster and signature page. "Beautiful photos. Very clean ad layout on the back," were the judges’ comments.

Former employee Logan Seacrest, who had a part in the page, had this to say, "To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how I picked that shot. I’m sure Kevin DeValkenaere and Linda Bryant helped pick the final image though. A little bit of ‘Photoshoppin,’ a quick Google search for patriotic quotes, and viola! Sig page complete."

Many of those posters were seen for months in the windows of subscribers’ homes and their places of work as a sign of patriotism.

Seacrest earned another award, runner-up finish in the Class D Weekly Feature Photography, with his outstanding photo of a long line of geese at Wagon Train Lake near Hickman.

When I saw the photo, I knew it was a candidate for top photo honors in the state. Logan, on the other hand, thinks he was in the right place at the right time.

"Well, as far as the geese picture goes...it was basically luck. I was out at Wagon Train Lake taking photos for the Salt Valley Lake Guide and I saw a goose family making their way toward the water.

"They were pretty far away, and without much of a zoom, I had to get closer. But as I approached, the geese got scared and started waddling faster and faster. By the time I got in position to take the shot, both the geese and I were just about to fall in the lake. It wasn’t until later, when you were impressed at the sheer number of baby geese, that I even realized the shot was anything special. So you deserve some of the credit for being a good photo editor, Bill!

"And, thanks for letting me know about the awards and congratulations to Mark and Gerry! They deserve all the accolades they get," Seacrest added from his desk at the State Capitol.

The VOICE of the Salt Valley Lakes issue garnered a runner-up award in the Class D Weekly Readers Contest, where readers sent in their favorite stories of their experiences at lakes. This year, we took a break from the story contest for the lake guide, and will now have to certainly revive it for next year since it is deemed a winner!

This year, readers are invited to submit pictures of themselves fishing, camping, boating and having fun at the lakes for the lake guide.

Overall, the wins can be credited to a hard-working newspaper crew, including Sandi Sapp, Patty Platt, Donna Jameson, reporters/photographers Mahoney, Baksys and former staffer Seacrest. Also, none of this would be possible without our valuable production manager, Kevin DeValkenaere, who is behind the scenes making things happen in nearly every step of the weekly newspaper process.

Linda and I are very blessed with the dedication of the staff, and are very proud of their accomplishments. After all, the hard work is dedicated to our subscribers and advertisers week in and week out. It is a lot of work and expense to enter every year, but obviously, it is a great morale booster to the staff. However, awards aside, it is the comments of our readers and advertisers that count and mean the most. We strive to be accurate, fair and unbiased, yet creative and innovative in reporting, photography, ad design, videos and Web offerings.

It is obviously a labor of love for the staff or they wouldn’t put up with the long, laborious hours week after week.