DENVER—Valley Publishing staff received eight awards at the Colorado Press Association’s annual awards banquet held April 13 in Denver— seven first place awards and one second place awards.

“Eight awards is incredible,” Publisher Jennifer Alonzo said. “I am so very proud of our staff. They work hard to get the job done. The Summer on the Rio Grande magazine continues to improve every year; the awards this publication has won is evidence of that. The magazine won first place in both Best Editorial Special Section and Best Advertising Special Section for the fourth year in a row. It doesn’t get any better than that,” commented Alonzo.
“We’re fortunate to have such a great, diverse staff; a few of them have been in this business for many, many years, which makes it much easier for the rest of us. We’re very blessed to have Benns and Sylvia Lobato as ‘old timers’ in the business, as well as production expert Ellie Bone,” said Alonzo.
The following awards were presented to Valley Publishing’s newspapers, including editorial, photos and advertising:

Center Post Dispatch
Second place – Teresa L. Benns, Best Series- “Long awaited justice”

Conejos County Citizen
First place — Sylvia Lobato, Best Photo Essay- “Mansion, town hosts Antonito events”

Monte Vista Journal
First place – Jennifer Alonzo, Ellie Bone, Chelsea McNerney-Martinez, Best Advertising Special Section- “Summer on the Rio Grande 2018”

First place – Staff, Best Editorial Special Section, glossy- “Summer on the Rio Grande 2018”

First place – Ellie Bone, Best Small Space Ad- “Noah’s Arf”

First place – Ellie Bone & Chelsea McNerney-Martinez, Best Medium Space Ad- “Del Norte Library”

First place— Ellie Bone, Best Cover Design- “Summer on the Rio Grande 2018”

First Place— Staff, Best Editorial Special Section, newsprint- “Southern Rocky Mountain Agricultural Conference”