One of my favorite parts of the newspaper each week is at the tippy top of page 1A — the Gold Cup and number of years surrounding our claim to be Missouri’s Best Small-Town Weekly Newspaper.

I’m the competitive type, sometimes too much so, but the amount of pride I take in that half-inch of text is immeasurable.

On Saturday, I attended the annual Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest Awards brunch in Columbia, where I was elated our small outfit had again exceeded many expectations by winning 21 total awards.

Our versatility showed, as we took honors in a wide variety of categories, from news and sports coverage to design, photography, digital content and more.

Of our five first pace awards, I am most proud of the one going to our sales rep and reporter, Sheila Harris, who took top honors in Best Serious Columnist. Sheila has ben stretching her editorial legs in the last couple years, and the recognition is extremely well-deserved. 

Often, she wades through trepidation to find the courage to say things she believes with great conviction, knowing full well many in our coverage area will not agree. When it comes to column writing, the ability to challenge the status quo in a productive way and stir conversation — which she does — is paramount to the craft.

My amazing wife, Jordan Troutman, also broke through the opinion writing scene, taking second place in the same category. In her entries (the contest requires two from consecutive months and one of choice), it’s clear how big of a heart she has, and that just so happens to be one of her qualities I love the most. Another key to column writing is allowing for some of that vulnerability, helping the reader to know you as well as understand your point.

I’ve won numerous columnist awards over the years, and though I didn’t even place this go around, I am beyond proud of Sheila and Jordan for their recognitions. I always say their columns are great — now I have a bona fide leg to stand on!

We did take first place for Best Editorial and Opinion Pages, with the judge noting the variety of our staff columns and guest columns. Opinion writing is not as prolific in the journalism industry as it once was, and I have built our pages to offer a mix of views and community participation over the years, so taking first in that category is especially meaningful to me.

I also got first place for one of the Trout Tales cartoons last year, a weekly feature of mine that has gone by the wayside in recent months due to time constraints and how hard it is to actually have something funny to say every week. That award might be the kick in the pants i need to get Trout Brown back on assignment again.

As a staff, we took second place in Community Service for our Barry County Bake Off event last year. That was an adventure to put together and make happen, so that’s yet another recognition we can hang our hats on.

Our other awards each have their own stories, but there’s not enough space, nor a need, to detail each of them. Again, the variety in categories I think speaks most to our versatility as a newspaper in today’s day and age.

As proud as I am of the 21 awards, my competitive nature keeps bringing my head back to the Gold Cup. You’d think eight cups in a dozen years would be enough. 

Not for me.

I always want to compete against the best — and I want to win.

The Maryville Forum won the top honor this year, beating us out by the equivalent of one award in any placement. I’ve been on the winning side of the yearly competition between our papers for the last couple years, and as they say, you can’t win ‘em all.

The takeaway from this year, though, is bigger than any win. It’s pride in our accomplishments and our abilities, respect for whom we are doing our jobs, and motivation to do it even better.

Congratulations again to Sheila and Jordan. I already can’t wait to see what we can all accomplish next year.

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He is a four-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or [email protected].