The Effingham Herald captured five awards, including a first place, at the Georgia Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest. The awards ceremony was held Friday at Jekyll Island.

The Herald claimed first place for best feature photograph that ran in the April 21, 2009 edition of the Herald. “Memories of childhood days should come to mind to just about anyone viewing this photo of kids sitting on a curb, eating ice cream,” the judges wrote. “We can almost imagine what they’re saying to each other as they dig into their treats on a warm spring day.”

The Herald also earned a second place for headline writing and a second place for newspaper Web site among weekly papers.

The Herald also garnered two third-place awards, one for its Effingham Living magazine in special sections and another for best feature photograph. “Good mix of lots of good information and very appealing visually,” the judges wrote of the Effingham Living magazine.

“We’re very proud of the products we put out and we continue to strive to make them the best we can,” Herald editor Pat Donahue said. “We certainly welcome the recognition of our peers in our industry, but our number one goal is to try to give our readers the best newspaper possible.”

Herald Publisher Karen Tanksley said the Herald continues to move forward, even in what has been difficult economic circumstances across the country and in media.

“We have a smaller staff than we’ve had in years, and I’m very proud of the hard work they do with an even greater workload than before,” she said.

Judging was conducted by the Texas Press Association.