Bee Group Newspapers win nine awards

Bee Group Newspapers captured nine awards in the 2006 Better Newspaper Contest sponsored by the New York Press Association.

More than 200 community newspapers from across the state participated, submitting 4,084 entries. Results were announced last week at the group's convention in Saratoga Springs.

First place honors went to The Amherst Bee in the Best "House" Advertising Campaign category, which promotes the newspaper itself. Judges stated, "The impact of the advertiser telling the world what they got (as results) is huge."

The annual Autumn supplement, which was included in all nine Bee newspapers, won second place in the Best Special Section/Advertising category. Bob Kupczyk is the Bee's special sections editor.

The East Aurora Bee won two awards for photography. John Normile earned second place in the Feature Photo category for a photo of a ballerina and third place in the Sports Feature category for a photo of a dejected lacrosse player leaving the field.

Reporter Patrick Nagy of The Amherst Bee won third place for a sports feature story on a high school hockey goalie. The Amherst Bee also won third place for Best Sports Coverage.

Managing Editor David Sherman won third place honors for The Clarence Bee in the Sports Feature Photo category for a shot of Kevyn Adams dousing himself with water prior to a game between his team at the time, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Buffalo Sabres.

Reporter Matt Krueger's coordination of sports coverage in The Cheektowaga Bee earned the newspaper a third place award in the Best Sports Coverage category. Judges cited his coverage of the Empire State Games, as well as the newspaper's design and photography.

The Lancaster Bee received a third place award for Best Large Space Ad for an advertisement by the Lancaster Central School District.