For the second consecutive year, the Advocate has been honored by the Texas Community Newspaper Association for excellence in a variety of categories.

Art Director Niki Gulley received first place for her redesign of our front-page masthead, and was honored for updating our paper’s overall appearance and for her design of a full-page Farmer’s Market advertisement published last year.

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Freelance photographer Linda Lux received third place in the Best Black and White Photo category for her depiction of a Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind patron interacting with a sculpted bust.

Contributing Editor Jeff Siegel received first place in the Best Original Column category; I received second place in the same category.

And our newspapers received second place state-wide among community newspapers in the General Excellence category.

Among the judge’s comments: “The area served must be a great place since it supports a publication of this high-quality,” and “This proves that a ‘fun’ newspaper can show its mettle in diligent reporting, as well.”

I also received notice that we are one of three finalists for the National Monthly Newspaper of the Year award, to be presented this month by one of the industry’s largest circulation auditing companies. We’re staying tuned for more information concerning this award.

Of course, the purpose of our paper has been, since its inception, to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods, and we go about achieving this goal by filling our publications with neighborhood news you won’t find anywhere else.

We also work hard to ensure that our advertisers receive the community support they need to grow and prosper – after all, you received this Advocate free-of-charge thanks to each and every advertiser in this month’s publication.

Winning awards is nice, but it’s a lot more important to me that our readers and advertisers get real value from our publication.

I hope that’s the case this month, and every month.

Two Readers Win Free Cruise

Last month, I used a portion of this column to remind you about our Caribbean Cruise giveaway and encourage you to stop by the sponsoring neighborhood businesses and register for the grand prize.

Well, more than 5,000 entries were received as part of this promotion, and I’m happy to report that two neighborhood residents and their spouses will be spending a week on a Royal Caribbean cruise later this year.

Joy Wyse of East Dallas and Manning Bozeman of Lake Highlands are the lucky winners, and believe me, both were excited when I called to let them know the good news.

Each won a seven-day cruise for two, including airfare to and from Fort Lauderdale, with each cruise package having a retail value of more than $3,000.

Wyse registered at Martin’s Cocina, 7226 Ferguson, and Bozeman registered at Tiffany’s Full-Service Salon, 8649 Skillman.

Thirty-two neighborhood businesses helped sponsor this promotion, which would not have been possible without the promotional efforts of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and neighborhood travel specialist Cruise Holidays, 9090 Skillman, and owners Stephen and Dianne Harris and their staff.

For a complete list of semifinalist winners from each neighborhood business, along with pictures of our sponsors and winners, turn to our special cruise insert at the center of this month’s paper.

We’re already working on next year’s cruise giveaway, so if you have any comments or suggestions, give me a call at 823-5885, ext. 212.

Thanks again for your support.