The carrier team of Lyle and Billie Collins and long-time Shawnee News-Star reporter Virginia Bradshaw were honored for their years of service by the Oklahoma Press Association during its annual awards banquet last night in Midwest City.
The News-Star also won awards for having the best print quality among daily newspapers in Oklahoma and placed in four other contest categories.
“It’s exciting to see veterans from the News-Star get the recognition they deserve so richly,” said News-Star Publisher Brian Blansett. “Lyle, Billie and Virginia have been role models for an entire generation of newspaper professionals and they set standards that we all try to match every day.”
Lyle Collins was inducted into the association’s elite Half-Century Club based on his 57 years in the newspaper business. Lyle started as a carrier for the Ada Evening News on Sept. 1, 1952, and threw his first newspaper when Harry Truman was still in the White House.
He eventually moved into printing and either delivered papers or printed papers or both for the Konawa Leader, Watonga Republican and the Wewoka Times before moving to the News-Star in 1960 as a linotype operator. He also delivered the Oklahoman for 22 years.
OPA honored Billie Collins for her 38 years in the business. She has been a carrier for the News-Star since 1970, when she and Lyle took on a small route on a try-it-and-see basis. They eventually took on more routes, eventually delivering as many as eight at a time, with a round-trip of more than 100 miles per day.
She and Lyle were married in 1962.
Bradshaw has been a journalist for more than 40 years, most of that time at the News-Star, where she was a staff member for 28 years before “retiring” in 2002. She has continued as a freelance writer and reporter for the News-Star and has found time to write a book about the history of Shawnee Milling Company.
Before joining the News-Star in 1977, she worked three years at the Norman Transcript and six years at St. Gregory’s College as public information director, journalism teacher and student newspaper and yearbook advisor.
The News-Star press crew of Robby Parsons, Phillip Harris, Daniel Rhodes, Joe Clements and Derek Hilderbrand won the association’s print quality award for the second year a row.
“I’m proud of our press crew and the work they do,” Blansett said. “In addition to the News-Star, we print 12 other publications each week and three monthlies. They maintain high quality under very demanding circumstances.”
In the association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest, the News-Star placed in six events including second-place in advertising; three third-place awards for layout and design, in-depth reporting and photography; and two fourth-place recognitions for feature writing and community leadership.
Blansett was elected to the association’s board of directors, where he will serve with current president Gloria Trotter, co-publisher of the Countywide & Sun.
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The carrier team of Lyle and Billie Collins and long-time Shawnee News-Star reporter Virginia Bradshaw were honored for their years of service by the Oklahoma Press Association during its annual awards banquet last night in Midwest City.
The News-Star also won awards for having the best print quality among daily newspapers in Oklahoma and placed in four other contest categories.
“It’s exciting to see veterans from the News-Star get the recognition they deserve so richly,” said News-Star Publisher Brian Blansett. “Lyle, Billie and Virginia have been role models for an entire generation of newspaper professionals and they set standards that we all try to match every day.”
Lyle Collins was inducted into the association’s elite Half-Century Club based on his 57 years in the newspaper business. Lyle started as a carrier for the Ada Evening News on Sept. 1, 1952, and threw his first newspaper when Harry Truman was still in the White House.
He eventually moved into printing and either delivered papers or printed papers or both for the Konawa Leader, Watonga Republican and the Wewoka Times before moving to the News-Star in 1960 as a linotype operator. He also delivered the Oklahoman for 22 years.
OPA honored Billie Collins for her 38 years in the business. She has been a carrier for the News-Star since 1970, when she and Lyle took on a small route on a try-it-and-see basis. They eventually took on more routes, eventually delivering as many as eight at a time, with a round-trip of more than 100 miles per day.
She and Lyle were married in 1962.
Bradshaw has been a journalist for more than 40 years, most of that time at the News-Star, where she was a staff member for 28 years before “retiring” in 2002. She has continued as a freelance writer and reporter for the News-Star and has found time to write a book about the history of Shawnee Milling Company.
Before joining the News-Star in 1977, she worked three years at the Norman Transcript and six years at St. Gregory’s College as public information director, journalism teacher and student newspaper and yearbook advisor.
The News-Star press crew of Robby Parsons, Phillip Harris, Daniel Rhodes, Joe Clements and Derek Hilderbrand won the association’s print quality award for the second year a row.
“I’m proud of our press crew and the work they do,” Blansett said. “In addition to the News-Star, we print 12 other publications each week and three monthlies. They maintain high quality under very demanding circumstances.”
In the association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest, the News-Star placed in six events including second-place in advertising; three third-place awards for layout and design, in-depth reporting and photography; and two fourth-place recognitions for feature writing and community leadership.
Blansett was elected to the association’s board of directors, where he will serve with current president Gloria Trotter, co-publisher of the Countywide & Sun.
