GUEYDAN - The Louisiana Press Association convened at the Paragon Casino in Marksville May 5, where awards from the Better Newspapers Competition were presented.

The Gueydan Journal was among the winners from 77 newspapers and thousands of entries judged from the state publications.

Winning First Place was Gueydan for the 35th Duck Festival edition, with the judges comments “Overall a great publication! Great local content, very informative. There is no doubt this is a winner.” They also claimed excellence in originality, advertising quality, news content quality, reader appeal and layout and design.

Two more First Place Award were awarded for Best New Photo with excellent marks in originality, cropping and appeal. And one in Multiple Advertiser Page with excellent marks in layout and border choice.

The Journal brought home a second place award for the Christmas Giveaway in the Multiple Advertiser division and a third place award in the Best Lifestyle Coverage on the Meet Your Neighbor section of the Journal.

The Gueydan Journal is a member of the Louisiana Press Association, the statewide organization of newspapers. Membership, numbering 130, includes 21 dailies, 6 thriceweeklies, 5 semiweeklies, 75 weeklies, and 23 other publications.

The Keynote speaker for prestigious event was Governor Edwin Edwards. He address the audience with the same wit and charm as he did when running for office.