SAM staff bring home 23 contest awards, place second in Class A sweepstakes

Summerland Advocate-Messenger personnel brought home 23 awards from the 2023 Better Newspaper Contest for the Nebraska Press Association. Awards were presented Saturday evening, at the awards banquet held at the Cornhusker Marriot Hotel in Lincoln.

SAM finished second in Class A, which includes weekly newspapers with a circulation up to 699 subscriptions. The Stanton Register won the division.

In advertising categories, publisher LuAnn Schindler won seven awards.

An ad featuring financial services at Brunswick State Bank, promoting FFA Week, placed first in Creative Ad Writing.

An ad for the Royal Fire Department's pancake and sausage supper finished third in the category.

A signature Page featuring the Bobcat football team in the playoffs finished second.

In the building circulation category, submissions promote newspaper subscriptions. Schindler's "Newspapers are cool again" ad, which plays on the "what's black and white and read all over" theme finished in third place.

SAM's Christmas giveaway, which included $50 in Clearwater Chamber of Commerce bucks, required readers to guess the number of candy canes in a glass container on display in the office.

The contest idea finished third in the reader interaction/contest category.

A promotional ad for Clearwater's 56th Big Rodeo placed third in community promotion.

A help-wanted advertisement for the Holt County Road Department placed third in the classified advertising idea - black and white category.

SAM staff brought home five awards in sports categories. Mike Tabbert finished second and third in sports action photography.

A photo from the Clearwater Rodeo, silhouetting headers and heelers against the setting sun placed second. A photo of bareback rider Chase YellowHawk, taken during the Clearwater Rough Stock Rodeo, finished in third place.

Tabbert earned second place in sports feature photography, with a photo of the Bobcat volleyball team's celebration following the district championship.

Schindler placed third in the category. Her photo featured Bobcat football player Sam Cheatum performing a back flip after the team defeated Hi-Line in the opening round of the state football playoffs.

Two sports-related columns, written by Schindler, received second place in sports column writing. One submission talked about JaySkers, during Creighton's 2023 March Madness run, while the second submission talked about Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin and the power of prayer following an on-field injury.

In the news photography and newswriting divisions, SAM staff received nine honors.

A first-place award was presented to Schindler, Tabbert and Faith King for photos, cutlines and layout highlighting the Clearwater Rodeo.

Schindler earned first place in feature photography. Her submission featured the branding of beams at the new Clearwater Chamber of Commerce building.

Two SAM writers earned awards in feature writing.

Schindler's story about a Texas man walking across America took top honors, while Sonia Rittscher's interview with Chris Stamp about his book of short stories placed third.

Elizabeth Odell received second place in breaking news photography, for a photo of Clearwater Fire and Rescue personnel extinguishing a fire at a trailer house.

Schindler's weekly column, Isms: Views on Life in Rural America, placed second. She submitted writings about Chat GPT and muscle car mania.

SAM's editorial Page, a combined effort put together by Sandy Schroth and Schindler, finished second.

The newspaper's youth coverage submissions earned second place. Examples included FFA Week coverage, SkillsUSA feature stories and letters to santa.

In general excellence, SAM placed third. Submissions are judged on content, layout, creative advertising, photographs and commitment to community.

In the digital division, SAM took top honors in best use of social media for its year-in-review in photos.

A digital ad featuring Michael's Cantina placed third online advertising.

According to NPA officials, 2,569 separate entries were judged by members of the South Carolina Press Association.