Eagle staffers reel in more press awards

Ouillette

Farrell

Roux

Marco Eagle journalists and editors have wrapped up their year by adding five more state press awards to their string of 2009 achievements.

This boosts their tally for the year to 20 awards between them.

In the latest contest, sponsored by the Florida Press Club, Presentation Editor Nadine Ouillette won first place for page design, while Quentin Roux won first place for serious feature writing for his series on Olivia Davis, the young Marco girl who underwent brain surgery to rid of her recurrent seizures.

Roux also earned a third place for headline writing.

Government writer Kelly Farrell received two awards.

For the first, she scooped a second place in the government news category for chronicling a contentious boat anchoring case in which a boater deliberately broke an anchoring ordinance.

In the public safety category, Farrell received a third place for a story on a sewer “geyser” leak that required dogged investigative reporting.

Mid-year, the Eagle team achieved 10 awards from the Florida Press Association, including first places for photography, feature writing and “sports section,” while before that they picked up five awards from the Florida Society of Professional Journalists.

“Everyone on the staff works very hard to make the Eagle a quality newspaper,” said Eagle Editor Bill Green. “And this recognition, from their peers, illustrates the quality we have here. I feel very fortune to work with such a fine staff.”

The Marco Eagle is the island’s longest-serving newspaper, delivered free to island homes.