It’s always nice to get pats on the back for your work, but they carry extra weight when delivered by your peers.
The Iola Register staff learned Friday morning of its success in this year’s Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence. The judges were fellow journalists, advertising representatives and graphic designers from Minnesota.
The Register competed among other daily newspapers across the state with similar size circulations.
Reporter Vickie Moss won seven first-place awards for her news and photography coverage. Moss’ stories included a rescue horse farm in Kentucky, the collapse of the Westco roof after a torrential downpour on Sept. 7, 2021, the 20-year anniversary of Sept. 11, international high school students attending Iola High School, and two COVID-19 related stories.
Moss has been with the Register since 2018.
Veteran reporter Richard Luken garnered five first-place awards in news, sports and photography categories. His coverage of Iola’s determination to keep a stand-alone EMS service if Allen County commissioners opted to not renew its contract with the city, won first place as a government/political story. In sports, Luken won for his coverage of the Allen Community College men’s basketball team’s 76-72 defeat of Seward County.
“It was ugly. It was painful. It was a win,” began Luken’s recount of the game.
Luken’s story with local Jack Steiner about how the 1916 Iola High School basketball’s team was robbed of a state championship also won first.
Luken began with the Register at age 23 in 1994.
Former reporter Trevor Hoag garnered two first-place awards. One was for his story on Jonathon and Betsey Goering and their love of playing in a historical reenactment band called The Free Staters. The other was on fossils found in Iola and other locations in southeast Kansas.
Susan Lynn, Register editor and publisher, received first-place awards in column and editorial writing. Her column writing entry was about getting stung by a bee. Her editorial entry was on Lt. Gov. David Toland’s meteoric rise.
Graphic design and advertising awards balanced the news department’s haul.
Kristi Kranker, graphic designer, won five first-place awards for her designs, including those for TLC Gardens, G&W Foods and The Marketplace.
Behind-the-scenes efforts include Violeta Rodriguez Stauffer as marketing director, Megan Hageman in advertising and Tim Stauffer, managing editor.
As every team knows, it’s not only the first-place awards that make a difference to a team’s standings. The Register crew also won dozens of second- and third-place awards in what could propel it to winning the Sweepstakes Award, which will be announced in June. The Register has won the sweepstakes for the last three years.
