Lewis County Herald wins state press awards

 

October 6, 2022



By Katelin Carroll,

Reporter

We are so proud to announce that The Lewis County Herald was awarded with three Tennessee Press Association Awards, and it’s all because of you, the community.

This year we were awarded First Place for Public Service due to our coverage of our community’s fight against drugs. This award would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Hope Center Ministries who led the charge with a march for the history books. Nearly 1,500 people turned out to march down the streets of Hohenwald with the hopes of taking their city back. Since then Hope Center Ministries have gone head to head with the biggest issue in Lewis County. Along the way, they have helped 24 men graduate their program since their beginning last year, and now they have made history by adding on a women’s facility in Hohenwald. They are the first Hope Center to have both a male and female facility in one county. They see beyond addiction, see the person for who they are and help them overcome it.

For this award, we would be remissed if we did not menion our local law enforcement. The Hohenwald Police Department and Sheriff’s Department have worked together to lead the charge on making arrests and making our city and county a safer place. Police Chief Kip Kelsey and Sheriff Dwayne Kilpatrick, alongside their officers and deputies, have worked with us to help raise awareness of how many arrests and drug confiscations go on behind the scenes.

We were also awarded with Third Place for Best Special Issue or Section. This award was for our First Responders Issue. We are incredibly honored to work with men and women who put their lives on the line for the sake of their community. In this issue we have had the privilege of working alongside our first responders whether it be Fire Fighters, Policemen, Sheriff’s Deputies, EMS or Dispatch. They have shown us year after year how much dedication and long hours go into making sure our community is safe. For this issue we also have to mention our local business owners who support the editions by advertising. Without you, we would not be abe to highlight these special men and women.

The last, and most definitely not least, award held the biggest place in this reporter’s heart; Best Feature Photograph. The photographs used for this award was of a sweet little girl, her mom and two of her adopted grandmothers who all volunteer their time to visit those in our local nursing home through their windows. Mable Anne and her mom, Ashley Heath, began this almost weekly tradition back in 2020 shortly after the pandemic hit. AHC Lewis County could no longer allow in person visits, but eventually were able to offer visits through their residents’ windows. Inspired by a storybook where a little boy makes friends with all the people in his local nursing home, Ashley realized the perfect time to visit people in the nursing home was right then. So she and Mable Anne set off to AHC Lewis County, knocked on every window and made smiles appear on every face. The award-winning photographs were of Mable Anne dressed up in one of her weekly costumes, waving at smiling residents with her mom holding her up to the window, and Annette Peery and Barbara Hinson waving in the background. They continued their visits long after, and still go to this day. This precious little girl, her mom, Hinson and Peery have carved out a special place in this reporter’s memory as one of the fondest and proudest stories to follow.

If one thing is made evident by this article, then I hope it’s that our community is vitally important to all of us who work at the Herald. Our main goal is to keep our community informed, but the motivation behind it is to help make it better. The stories, special editions and photographs are all a part of that goal, and help highlight the people in our community who share the same motivation. Thank you to everyone who has worked with us and especially those who act in good faith for the betterment of our little mayberry.

 

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