HOT PURSUIT

Never in my wildest dreams did I think the Steele County Times would be able to coin the phrase, “Repeat best.” But that’s exactly what happened at last week’s annual Minnesota newspaper awards banquet in the Twin Cities.

For the second straight year, the Times hauled in the Mills Trophy given out to the best weekly newspaper in Minnesota.

As our staff members crossed the stage to accept 35 awards throughout the evening, I swelled with pride and humbleness in knowing we are doing something right in keeping local news alive.

In accepting the top award, I told a roomful of journalists how incredibly blessed I am to have such a talented and experienced staff that wants nothing more than to provide good old-fashioned quality journalism. Collectively, we have around 225 years of experience on our staff.

I also shared how we are fortunate to serve in the greater community of Steele County that wants local news. I pointed out how our circulation has swelled by 60% over the past six years.

While my staff is second to none and I am deeply thankful for what they’ve accomplished, the essence of our success really comes down to our readers. Your support in reading the newspaper every week, calling and emailing us with story ideas and spreading your love of what we do is critical in making this all come together. I can’t tell you how many readers share how they read the newspaper from cover to cover throughout the week (because it takes too long to do it in one sitting). It all provides us with the motivation and energy to continue providing community journalism, which I believe people have found is so important especially with the world events of the past few years.

I hope you will find a way to celebrate with us. The trophy will be displayed at our offices, and we’ll plan to bring it out to the fair once again this summer. We may even find a way to sneak it into the Fourth of July parade in Blooming Prairie. This is the community’s award just as much as it is our honor.

We feel fortunate to be able to provide a great resource of local news to the community. The local newspaper fosters a sense of belonging to preserving local heritage. We play a vital role in enhancing the fabric of society.

My mother was fortunate to be able to attend the awards ceremony. I couldn’t help but think about the late nights when she often found me slumped over and dozing off at the typewriter—yes, I grew up in the stone age of typewriters—writing stories for my hometown newspaper while I was in high school. I often wrote stories until 2 or 3 in the morning. Don’t ask me how I ever got up in time for school the next day or how I even was able to finish my schoolwork. Let’s just say I developed a passion for journalism at a very young age. And it has never left me.

A few years ago, I wrote about how my journalistic career wouldn’t be complete without achieving the prestigious Mills Trophy. And even after winning it last year, little did I think we would stand a chance of snagging it again this year.

I guess it’s time for us to focus on going in hot pursuit of the trifecta in as many years.