This past weekend I had the opportunity, with my family, to spend a few memorable days on Jekyll Island. Any trip to Jekyll Island is great, but this particular trip was special.
I attended the Georgia Press Association’s 129th Annual Convention. There, I was able to see and visit with many of my friends in the newspaper industry throughout the state. Many of those, I only have the opportunity to see once or twice a year.

I was also able to see my friend, Mesha Wind of the Cairo Messenger, voted as the 2015-2016 Georgia Press Association president. She will do a wonderful job leading our association during her term.

The whole room was enthralled as Morley Piper, a World War II veteran and D-Day survivor, described the events of the battles in Normandy, France 71 years ago. Mr. Piper, along with those who served with him, is a national treasure.

But, the biggest thrill was accepting, on behalf of The Post-Searchlight staff and our community, the General Excellence Award during the Better Newspaper Contest Awards Dinner on Friday night.

It’s a great honor for our newspaper to be judged as the best newspaper in Georgia that is published less than daily, but more than weekly. This recognition is a testament to the hard work of everyone on the staff, including reporters, advertising salespeople, pressroom workers and delivery drivers. I am proud of them and proud for them.

I am also proud of this community. We have a small staff and it is nearly impossible for us to cover every event that needs covering, to take pictures of every deserving event, or to actually be aware of all events that deserve coverage.

We depend greatly on the community to let us know about these events, and the community does a great job of doing just that.

So, for everyone who has ever submitted to us photos, information or tips about happenings in Decatur County, we thank you. We would not have received this recognition without you, and please, keep it coming.

In addition to the coveted General Excellence award, our staff earned 12 more first place awards. Of those, the Best Local News Coverage is the most satisfying. After all, our basic responsibility to the community is fairly simple: to provide a timely, accurate news report of happenings in our community.

Yes, we make mistakes from time to time. Anyone who says they are mistake-free is not being honest. And, we will make mistakes in the future. I know that, but our goal is to minimize those occurrences and to make the corrections when needed.

Being able to bring you, the Decatur County Community, news coverage, opinion (both yours and ours) and entertainment is a role and obligation that we all take very seriously; it’s a privilege.

We are rewarded every day just by having you read your newspaper and by the interactions we have with our readers. But earning the recognition of our peers, others in the newspaper industry is nice, too.