Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Herald Times Reporter Entry Title: 'Half-way house' on Lake Michigan between Manitowoc and Two Rivers was finest in the county Entry Credit: Amy Meyer Judge Comment: See the competition comment.
Highly readable and informative with interesting art. Essentially the same column as the runner-up but after a day of deliberation I decided these three columns comprised the most compelling entry, by the slightest of margins.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Herald Times Reporter Entry Title: Manitowoc County brewery was largest operation found in Wisconsin during Prohibition Entry Credit: Bob Fay Judge Comment: See the competition comment.
You’ll get her next time, Bob. I love both of the top two entries.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: The Sheboygan Press Entry Title: Cedar Grove's 75th annual Holland Fest is this month, plus more news in your weekly dose Entry Credit: Brandon Reid Judge Comment: A useful and probably very popular feature but it seems slightly miscast as a “column.”
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Herald Times Reporter Entry Title: Savor Manitowoc heads to Two Rivers for pizza at Waverly Inn, touted as 'the best thin crust on the shores of Lake Michigan' Entry Credit: Alisa Schafer, Patti Zarling Judge Comment: I decided to award a HM in this catalogue because it’s not the fault of the writer that she found herself competing against such different species of work. Restaurant reviewing and food writing is to be encouraged, and the writer has a lively voice and the appropriate enthusiasm.
Competition Comment: A tough category to judge because the entries, with the exception of the two top winners were extremely diverse (and the top winners were extremely similar). While I imagine all these “columns” (I’m actually not sure they are all columns, exactly, but I get it — they’re regular features that deal with aspects of the way we live now) are useful and probably popular with readers, I ultimately just went with my instinct. I liove history and think most Americans are frightening ahistorical. And I eventually went with Amy Meyer as the winner and Bob Fay as the runner-up simply because the subject matter of her entires seemed narrowly more compelling. I wish I could have named them 1 A and 1B.
