The Boothbay Register and Wiscasset Newspaper won 13 total awards in the 2020-2021 Maine Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, including three main awards: first place in General Excellence-Digital for its website; third place General Excellence-Print for its print product, and the combined newspapers won third place General Excellence-Advertising for its print product.

Results were announced Nov. 13 via a virtual ceremony. Both newspapers competed in the Weekly 1 division, made up of the smallest (by circulation) weekly newspapers in the state and the largest division among Maine newspapers.

Wiscasset Newspaper Assistant Editor Susan Johns won three awards. Johns won first place for her news video, “For those who didn’t come home,” which accompanied her article, “Meaning remains in pandemic-adjusted Wiscasset  Memorial Day.” She took second place in the feature headline category for “Mask maker, mask maker,” about a story on various mask makers in the Wiscasset area. Johns took third place for a political story, “Private email goes public in Alna,” regarding the controversial private boat ramp.

Wiscasset reporter and columnist Phil Di Vece took third place in the local columnist category for his Salt ’n Spar column.

Register Staff Reporter Bill Pearson took a second place for a news headline, “Sew what,” on a story about Jennifer Manson’s mask-making, and third place for a sports headline, “Glorious night for Blethen family,’ on the story about Boothbay Region High School basketball senior Glory Blethen scoring her 1,000th career point.

Register Staff Reporter Joseph Charpentier took a second place in the continuing story category for his series of articles on area restaurants persevering through the pandemic subtitled “Navigating through COVID-19.”

Arts and Entertainment Editor Lisa Kristoff won a second place critic’s award for her column, “Where it’s at,” on a review of the sculpture display at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens by Meg Brown Payson.

Editor Kevin Burnham won a third place for his sports new story, “Research ends in Seahawk reaching basketball milestone ... 46 years later,” about the late Laurie Reed reaching the 1,000-point scoring mark.

Production staff member Steve Edwards’ design of the 2020 Dining Guide took second place in the best supplement cover category.

Charpentier was elected to the MPA board earlier this fall, while sales staff member Sarah Morley stepped off the board after serving a term.

The contest was judged by members of South Dakota Press Association. The number of entries increased over 2020, up 15%, as did the number of MPA member newspapers, up 6%, according to MPA Executive Director Diane Norton.