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Citizen Managing Editor Patty Kruszewski won six awards in the Virginia Professional Communicators 2020 communications contest, including two first-place entries that advanced to the National Federation of Press Women competition.
Awards were announced online in April; the VPC spring conference was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kruszewski won a first-place award for her feature story “A Beacon of Light, Laughter.” The story paid tribute to Quy Pham, a beloved Mekong bartender who drowned during a triathlon and inspired outpourings of praise and grief.
Kruszewski also won first-place honors in the specialty articles education category, for a story portraying the positive changes at Greenwood Elementary after the school grouped students using a "house" system.
"A really engaging way to present this story," said the judges of "House Party," while praising the writing about Quy Pham for "painting a beautiful picture."
Kruszewski took a second place in the feature story category with an examination of the challenges of photographing pets for a FETCH a Cure fundraiser. “A cute story with some good reporting behind it,” said the judges of “Go Fetch.”
Another feature story, about a local chapter of The Compassionate Friends, won honorable mention, while the story of an event showcasing electric vehicles was awarded honorable mention for specialty articles about the environment.
A third honorable mention was awarded in the columns category, for two Family Forum columns that looked at examples of comforting bedtime rituals for kids and examined ways that parenting can spur personal growth and change.
Among the Henrico writers who also garnered VPC awards were Joan Tupponce and Cynthia Price. Along with two University of Richmond colleagues (Sunni Brown and Lindsey Campbell), Price won a first place and a second place award, while Tupponce collected two first places, a second place, three third places and two honorable mentions for her writing.
