Walking away with awards

By Michele Pawlenty

Maple Lake Messenger staff went home with two first and one third place awards following the annual Minnesota Newspaper Association Convention, Thursday, Feb. 1 in Brooklyn Center.

In the Special Sections category, The Messenger took first place for the popular spoof, the Maple Flake. “The Flake is a very popular publication in Maple Lake,” Publisher Michele Pawlenty said. “When the Flake was first published, it was put in entrant bags for the Fishing Derby held in Maple Lake each year. Unfortunately, the past couple of years the weather did not cooperate, so the derby was canceled. But because so many people raved about the publication and looked forward to it every year, we decided to put it out around the same time the fishing derby would have been held. The derby would still have the raffle, so we decided to let people enjoy it even though the derby was canceled.”

The judges’ comments were as follows: “hilarious – very creative and well done! Even the classifieds play into the spoof. It was super original and well laid out. Kudos!”

Under the “Use of Color in an Ad” category, Don Dittberner took first with his Morrie’s Buffalo Ford ad. The judges’ comments were, “there’s just enough color to make the ad pop. The green Ford makes you take a second look, and it ties in beautifully with the St. Patrick’s Day greetings.”

Maple Lake Messenger staff display the awards they recently received from the Minnesota Newspaper Association. They took home two first place awards and one third place award. They are,  Design Editor Don Dittberner, Layout Editor/Ad Sales Nick Pawlenty, Publisher Michele Pawlenty, News/Sports Editor Brenda Erdahl and Office Manager Amanda Menden.