The Wisconsin Newspaper Association held their annual convention in Madison last week and three employees of the Crawford County Independent-Kickapoo Scout attended.

 The highlight of the convention was the WNA Better Newspaper Contest and the annual awards banquet.

How well did the Independent-Scout do in the contest?  The local newspaper did very, very well in fact, taking five first place awards, five second place awards, five third places and one honorable mention.

Actually, the newspaper’s columnists really carried the day. Our weekly columnists, Jane Schmidt and John Gibbs, won the first and second place respectively in the Local Columnist category.

The judge was effusive in his praise for Jane’s first place entry.

“Your readers are so lucky to have Jane,” the judge wrote. “What a great writer. I ended each column wanting more. When you can feel the writing, you know you are doing something right. Well done!”

There’s more–let’s call it the ‘Year of the Columnist.’ In addition to columnists Schmidt and Gibbs, our favorite trout fisherman Len Harris won first place in the local sports columnist category.  

“This column captured a highlight reel moment and wrote in such a way that you could easily visualize it,” the judge wrote. “Nice subject, nice writing, nice job.”

“Thank you columnists, one-and-all,” Independent-Scout Editor Charley Preusser said of their outstanding performance.

Hold on there’s more. The paper’s newest reporter Jordan Derrick won first place in the Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting category.

“I am incredibly grateful to everyone at the Crawford County Independent, especially Charley, for believing in my abilities and giving me the opportunity to write this story, despite my age and lack of experience,” Jordan said later. “I am also grateful to North Crawford Food Service Director Jen Kapinus, not only for running the incredible program that brought me the story, but also for being willing to sit down with a new reporter finding their footing.”

Derrick also won third place in the category of Localized National Story. The award honored her reporting on 2025 Vice Presidential Candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. She covered Walz’s life, as well as his speech, during a campaign stop with Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris in Eau Claire last August. The judge stated she had “captured the mood without an overuse of quotes.”

There’s probably something else you should know, Jordan Derrick was hired as a reporter at the Independent-Scout in mid-July. This meant her Better Newspaper Contest entries were made from just six weeks of work prior to the August 31, 2024 contest deadline. Jordan is currently a senior at North Crawford High School

Independent-Scout editor Charley Preusser appreciates Jordan’s work at the paper.

“I’ve worked with lots of talented people at the newspapers over the years and I can truthfully say she’s among the best,” the editor said. “And, that is definitely not an exaggeration.”

Not to be outdone by his hard-working staff, Independent-Scout Editor Charley Preusser won a first place award in the category of Feature Story-Profile for his story about Seneca’s Ica Boylen. He also won three third place awards for a health coverage story and a feature photo and spot news photo.

Preusser won in the Spot News Photo category, with his coverage of the flipped Brockway dump truck. Preusser’s winning feature photo shows a couple dancing at the Gays Mills Folk Fest.

“Truly a great capture,” the judge said about Preusser’s photo from Folk Fest. “I think we’re going to see a lot of great things coming up from this publication photography-wise.”

Gillian Pomplun, another Crawford County Independent veteran, took her fair share of wins this year, as well. She won four second place awards, one third place award, and an honorable mention.

Pomplun’s awards include entries in the Ongoing/Extended Coverage, Localized National Story, General News Photo, and Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting categories.

With winning second and third place entries, Ongoing/Extended Coverage was Pomplun’s best category this year. Her third place award was for her coverage of the proposed Vernon County Landfill expansion. Her second place award was shared with another reporter, Ambrosia Wojahn, for their stories covering the decommissioning of the flood control dams in the West Fork Kickapoo River and Coon Creek Watersheds.

“It was a pleasure and an honor to tag team with reporter Ambrosia Wojahn in covering the dam decommissioning issue,” Pomplun said. “Though the dams aren’t located in Crawford County, decommissioning dams in the West Fork Kickapoo will affect citizens in the county, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partnership in covering this important topic than Ambrosia.”

Pomplun also won second and third place in the General News Photo category. She took second place for a photograph of the Ferryville Fire Department’s grain bin safety exercise, and third place for her photograph of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s opening day of their water taxi, which took commuters across the Mississippi River after the Lansing Bridge was shut down.

“I was so excited to win two awards for photography,” Pomplun said about her awards. “I’m really more of a writer, and developing my skills in photography has been a stretch goal for me.”

In Enterprise/Interpretive Reporting, Pomplun took her third second-place win for her story on a controversy in the Village of Soldiers Grove. The controversy involved the shutting down of the Swamp Project People, the Swamp Fest event, and work to clean up Myrtle Lake.

Graphic designer Tyra Saddoris also won an award for the Independent-Scout, among her many other awards for other small newspapers, this year. Saddoris won first place in the Best Use of Color Category with her Stump Dodger ad.

“This is what a great ad should look like – not overly busy, and smart color choices that tie in each aspect of what is being advertised,” the judge wrote about Saddoris’ ad.

What a year! The Independent-Scout won 15 awards and an honorable mention.

“It really gives you some perspective on the work,” Independent-Scout Editor Charley Preusser said. “We pride ourselves on our reporting, however, our readers are the real judges.”