The Lititz Record Express staff won seven Keystone Press Awards for 2002, which earned them the prestigious Sweepstakes Award for Division VII newspapers (weekly newspapers with a circulation of 5,000-9,999). It was the first time that the Record Express earned this award... in fact, it is believed to be the first time that a Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. publication (Lancaster New Era, Intelligencer Journal, Sunday News, Ephrata Review, Lancaster Farming) won the Sweepstakes.

 

Contrary to what the title might suggest, this was not a random selection, accompanied by a handsome cash prize. Sweepstakes awards are presented to the top newspaper in each of eight divisions recognized by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association based upon a point system earned with awards won that year. The Lititz Record Express scored a total of 40 points, earning a tie for the win. Newspapers earn 10 points for a first place award, 5 points for a second place.

 

The most significant award, however, did not factor into their overall score. A staff entry submitted by Steve Seeber, Rick Reitz, and Kathy Blankenbiller (pictured above, from left to right) was the Second Place winner in a special category for Sept. 11 coverage.Considering that most of the 50 newspapers in their division did extensive coverage, including some located near the scene of the downed plane outside Pittsburgh, we were stunned and honored to receive this award, which was based on 10 articles related to the aftermath of Sept. 11.

 

Rick and Steve both won a total of four awards, including the Sept. 11 recognition. Prior to this year, neither Rick nor Steve ever won more than two, and the entire newspaper never won more than three awards in any given year. They also swept two categories - Ongoing News and Headlines.

 

Rick received a First Place award in Ongoing News Coverage for his articles related to the Police Discrimination Lawsuit in Warwick Township; a Second Place award in Headline Writing; and an Honorable Mention in Series/Special Project, for his three-part series "Learning Lititz," which had local fourth graders explaining what they felt were the most important people, places and events in Lititz history. The article was also illustrated by the children.

 

Steve "Full Nelson" Seeber (as his photo credit depicted) earned a First Place award in Feature Story for his article on Christian Wrestling coming to Lititz; another First Place award for Headline Writing; and a Second Place award in Ongoing News Coverage for his articles on the "Lititz Eyesore" - an embattled former church building in the downtown that has become a nuisance to many, and where plans for its improvement continued to change and get thwarted.

 

The Awards Banquet was held on Saturday, May 18 at the Penn Stater Convention Center in State College, where about 300-400 newspaper writers, editors and publishers gathered for the ceremony. In past years, Record Expess winners would only have to pick up their awards on stage and then be done with it for the rest of the evening. This year, as a Sweepstakes Award winner, an acceptance speech was expected. So it was up to Rick to follow up newspapers like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, York Daily Record, Centre Daily Times, and yes, even his former employers at The Sentinel in Carlisle, with a few words about his newspaper.

 

At the very least, I held my own up on stage, and I was rather surprised and tickled when some people commented that it was the best of the speeches made that night. Not just co-workers and spouses, either. One of the themes that I touched on was that we were able to do this with a very small staff (not that they're short... oh, actually, they are) that takes care of all aspects of the newspaper. The two speakers that followed capitalized on that comment to reference their small staffs as well, so I knew that some people were listening to what I had to say.

 

The only thing that would have made this event even better would have been to have our sports editor, Bruce Morgan, join us for the celebration and earn a much-deserved award or two. But we are now inspired and hopeful that we can keep the momentum going for the 2003 awards, and get Bruce into the mix as well.

 

Hopefully we won't suffer the same fate we did last year when we won zero awards... but with good reason. We never got the entry forms, and with impending fatherhoon on my mind and extensive office renovations making work quite difficult at that time, we only realized after the deadline what had happened - too late to enter. That misstep cost us a streak we had going since 1995. But you know what, this moment more than made up for it!

 

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The Lititz Record Express Acceptance Speech (minus an add-lib or two)

 

"Every year between late January and late March, our staff typically enjoys a period of blissful denial, where we have built ourselves up to believe that we have enough decent Keystone Award-worthy entries to have a shot at the Sweepstakes. Then, reality sets in on that thrilling day when the big envelope with the PNPA logo arrives on my desk and congratulates us for one or two awards. And we are grateful for them.

 

"So I guess we are still living in that blissful denial, because while we were ready for this, but we sure didn't expect it.

 

"We work with a relatively small editorial staff - three full time, one part time - that carry upon themselves an awful lot of duties. We write the stories, take the photos, edit the content, format the community calendars, write the headlines, paginate the pages, catch the flak for last week's issue, fix the lights, make the coffee... and on Monday, I guess we hang the plaques, too. Don't mind that duty, much.

 

"We wouldn't do all of this if we didn't love what we were doing, if we didn't believe that we were part of a vital institution within our community, if we didn't work so well together as a staff... and most importantly, if we didn't have the most understanding spouses around, who put up with some of the most ridiculous office hours imaginable.

 

"This award is a testament to not only a hardworking, creative staff, but to the active and interesting community in which we all live and work, which ensures that those ridiculous office hours will probably continue.

 

"I graciously accept this award on behalf of the staff - my friends - at the Lititz Record Express. We will treasure this as one of the finest moments in the paper's fantastic 125-year history, and we are honored and humbled to be a part of it. Thank you."

The PNPA website is: www.pnpa.com. Award information for 2002, including all of the Lititz Record Express award-winning stories, can be found at www.pnpa.com/keystone/2002/index.htm

The following are direct links to Rick's winning entries:

 "Police Discrimination Lawsuit," - 2002 Keystone Award, First Place, Ongoing News Coverage. Three articles involving a police chief and sergeant who were fired four months after they charged racial discrimination against local officials for not hiring an officer candidate.

Excerpts from "Learning Lititz" Series - 2002 Keystone Award, Honorable Mention, Series/Special Project... This was a three-part series where local fourth graders were asked about the most important people, places and events in their hometown's history. They also provided the illustrations that accompanied the stories.

Lititz Fire Co. Boot Drive - 2002 Keystone Award, Second Place, Sept. 11 Coverage... one of 10 entries written by Richard Reitz, Stephen Seeber and Kathy Blankenbiller that earned the newspaper this award. This story reviewed a tremendously successful local fund drive for the victims of Sept. 11.

Zero's Heroes - 2002 Keystone Award, Second Place, Sept. 11 Coverage... one of 10 entries written by Richard Reitz, Stephen Seeber and Kathy Blankenbiller that earned the newspaper this award. This was a detailed profile of a local resident who decided to get involved in the clean-up effort at the World Trade Center shortly after the attacks.

"How Should a Community Respond to Tragedy? - "For the Record" Column - 2002 Keystone Award, Second Place, Sept. 11 Coverage... one of 10 entries written by Richard Reitz, Stephen Seeber and Kathy Blankenbiller that earned the newspaper this award. This column was written on the same day of the terrorist attacks.

The following are Rick's Keystone Press Awards:

• 2002 Keystone Press Award, second place, Special Award, Sept. 11 Coverage
• 2002 Keystone Press Award, first place, Ongoing News Coverage
• 2002 Keystone Press Award, second place, Headline Writing
• 2002 Keystone Press Award, honorable mention, Series/Special Project
• 2000 Keystone Press Award, first place, Column Writing
• 1998 Keystone Press Award, first place, Headline Writing
• 1998 Keystone Press Award, second place, Feature Beat Reporting
• 1997 Keystone Press Award, first place, Headline Writing
• 1996 Keystone Press Award, first place, News Photography
• 1995 Keystone Press Award, second place, News Beat Reporting in Education

 

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