BOSTON — Members of the Advertising/Sales and Editorial departments of The Newtown Bee were among those honored February 15-16 during the 2019 New England Better Newspaper Convention. Six awards were received by staff members, including a first place award for one of the newspaper’s reporters.

The annual event, held for the second consecutive year at Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel, included multiple awards ceremonies and two days of presentations meant to celebrate and improve work being done by newspapers across the six-state region included within The New England Newspaper & Press Association (NENPA).

On Friday evening, The Newtown Bee sales department received four awards during an advertising awards ceremony.

Second place awards were received in the categories of Generating Revenue, for the For Your Dining Pleasure piece that runs regularly on the last page of the paper’s A-section; and Local Display Ad (Black & White), for a holiday ad created for Bethel Village Square Animal Hospital.

Judges called For Your Dining Pleasure a “great program to feature local restaurants while featuring the advertiser” and applauded the ad created for Bethel Village Animal Center for its “fun photo with clear info and location.”

Third place awards were presented to The Newtown Bee for Local Ad Color, for a Hollandia’s Nurseries advertisement (“ad with merchandise shot highlighting their Christmas showroom”); and Advertiser Campaign, for a series created for Leahy’s Fuel (“well-designed ads with tons of information”).

On Saturday, Newtown Bee Education Reporter Eliza Hallabeck received the first place award for News Feature Photo. The winning photo ran on the front page of the June 29, 2018 issue of The Newtown Bee. Taken on the last day of the 2017-18 school year, the photo captured Head O’ Meadow School students Alexis Michael, Blake Heim-Sherwood and Gavil Hull hugging their HOM Principal Barbara Gasparine while all three were standing between a pair of school buses. Ms Gasparine retired at the end of that academic year.

In his notes, Photography Judge Robert Holt III complimented Ms Hallabeck’s photograph, saying it was a “strong image with Newtown upper. Right for reference.”

In addition, Newtown Bee Associate Editor John Voket received second place for Health Reporting, for his December 2017 story, [naviga:u]“Health Officials Concerned About Xanax Abuse Among Newtown Youths.”[/naviga:u]

Judges in that category felt Mr Voket “addressed an issue that many readers may not be familiar with — Xanax abuse by teens — providing both important context and useful information.”

Mr Voket also finished his term as president of NENPA on Saturday. During a business meeting that morning, Phillip Camp assumed the one-year term as president of the association.

The Newtown Bee competes in Weekly Class Two, denoting papers with circulation of 6,000 issues or fewer each week.

There are more than 75 categories for Editorial/Multimedia/Photography, 35 competitive categories for Advertising/Circulation/Promotion, and another 45 categories for Specialty/Niche Publications. The Better Newspaper Competition, according to organizers, draws more than 3,000 entries each year.

The awards presented last weekend celebrated work published between August 1, 2017 and July 31, 2018.