Eastern Shore Post Wins 14 Virginia Press Association Awards

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Staff Report
In a year in which the Eastern Shore Post competed against the largest weekly newspapers in Virginia, it snagged 14 Virginia Press Association awards.

The awards, which recognize the highest achievements in the newspaper industry in the state, are usually announced at the annual VPA conference the first week in April. The event was canceled this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

It was the second year in a row the Post entered the competition, but the first year that the paper competed in the largest circulation category.

“Even when we went up against largest nondaily papers, we held our own,” said editor and co-owner Connie Morrison. “Some of the papers with comparable circulation are backed by large corporations who design their ads or complete the layout. We do everything but print the paper right here in our little office in Onley, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

The advertising department was the big winner this year with 11 awards.

The Post swept the category of automotive ads, with ad designer Kimberly Perry taking first-, second-, and third-place awards for ads she designed for Buchanan Subaru (first and third place) and Bayside Tire and Auto (second place).

In the home and garden category, Perry and Sam Sellard shared first- and third-place awards for ads they created for H&H furniture in Pocomoke City, Md.

The pair also collaborated on an ad for Long & Foster that yielded a first-place award in the real estate category.

The Perry-Sellard duo teamed up again on a multiple-advertiser award for the Chincoteague downtown merchants, a full page with merchant ads around the exterior and a stylized map in the middle showing their locations.

Perry also took third place for her Halloween page, which compiles all the local governments’ hours for trick-or-treating onto a page with a decorative background.

Perry earned another second-place award for a member promotion layout celebrating the Post’s 20th anniversary last June.

Perry garnered a third-place award for an ad she created for World Class Travel.
On the editorial side, fishing columnist Bill Hall earned second-place accolades among sports columnists for his weekly “Fishing From the Shore” column. Last year, Hall earned third place in the same category.

Reporter Stefanie Jackson earned a second-place award for business and financial writing for her articles Internet Provider Says Broadband Authority Poses Unfair Competition,” “Cape Charles Yacht Center Poised for ‘Super’ Expansion,” and “The Eastern Shore is Sweet on Salty New Business.”

Former staff writer and photographer Linda Cicoira won a first-place award for her photo of girls in a Bloxom Boy Scout troop, “Girls Can Soar Like Eagles, Too.”

“This team doesn’t disappoint,” said co-owner of the Post, Ace Seybolt. “They keep getting better and the paper just keeps getting better.”

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