UNITY — The Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association announced its winners for 2023 Better Newspapers Competition May 12, with a number of award winners among SASKTODAY.ca’s contributors.
The team at Unity-Wilkie Press-Herald picked up several top awards.
Sherri Solomko was a finalist for two of her headlines in 2022. She earned first place for her creative headline, “It’s snovertime for community public works departments.” She was a third-place winner for “Unity’s cobbler put his heart and ‘sole’ into 63-year career.” Judges noted it was great to see everyone having fun with their headlines as it sets the tone for the articles and the readers.
Helena Long and Sherri Solomko captured first place in Best Business Writing for their partnered work on the story of Dusan Maljan’s long career in Unity. “Unity’s cobbler puts his heart and ‘sole’ into 63-year career” earned a perfect score of 100 from the judges, earning 25 out of 25 points in each of four categories: quality of writing, clarity, impact to community and content.
The Salute to Veterans category saw second place going to the Unity-Wilkie Press-Herald, shared by the trio who created it: Tim Holtorf, Helena Long and Sherri Solomko. Judges noted that Helena Long’s feature story on a retired CAF Navy veteran was a key to the second-place finish, as well as “excellent support from the business community."
Freelancer Helena Long won second place in the Best Sports Photo category for her baseball photo in the July 22, 2023, issue of the Battlefords Regional News-Optimist, showing a leaping second baseman captured mid-air over a runner sliding in the dust to base. The missed ball was visible at left.
Some additional stories submitted that were not awarded received positive comments from judges. Regarding Sherri Solomko’s story on the significant restoration project at Kerrobert Courthouse, judges noted, “Well-written … the reader gets a glimpse into some of the architectural heritage and ghost stories.”
Judges said of Helena Long’s article, “Indigenous culture recognized at UCHS flag raising” that it was an inspiring article that was well written and engaging. Long’s story was just one point away from capturing third place in that category.
Writer Miguel Fenrich, staff reporter for the Battlefords Regional News-Optimist and SASKTODAY.ca had a successful awards ceremony earning three firsts, one second and one third.
These 2023 awards will be added to the “wall of fame” at Unity’s Press-Herald office where a number of other plaques and certificates are displayed showing ongoing successes earned by the Unity-Wilkie Press-Herald team. These accolades demonstrate the dedication and quality of work the Press-Herald team commits to with their weekly newspaper as well as SASKTODAY.ca work.
“Some of the most talented and dedicated newspaper people in the province have been honoured today and we are proud that many of them are part of SASKTODAY.ca,” says Jayne Foster, editor for SASKTODAY.ca.
“These awards prove that local news coverage is still important to our communities, still has an impact, and is still what readers are looking for.”
