VFW has announced the winners of the 2011 National Publications Contest. Two non-VFW-affiliated journalism professionals—a photojournalist and a former 20-year newspaper editor—served as judges for the competition. This is designed to guarantee impartiality and objectivity in the judging. To reiterate, VFW staffers play no part in judging the entries.
Because all levels of VFW have seen declining membership in recent years, the small, medium and large qualifications were re-evaluated for the 2011 contest. The winning publications in each category are:
Department Publications
Large (24,000 or more members)
1st Massachusetts VFW News
Richard E. Slowey, Editor
2nd The California Veteran
James R. Rowoldt, Editor
3rd VFW Wisconsin News
William Bottoms, Editor
Medium (10,000-23,999 members)
1st Typhoon/Around the Pacific
James Malott, Editor
2nd The Oregon VFW News
Sue Piper, Editor
3rd Oklahoma Combat Veteran
Michael H. Devenitch, Editor
Small (9,999 or fewer members)
1st Idaho Veterans and Auxiliary News
Susan Thompson, Editor
2nd Silverlines (Nevada)
Bruce Hollinger, Editor
District Publications
Large (2,100 or more members)
1st The Mighty 13th District (District 13, California)
Rhonda Montgomery, Editor
2nd 9'er News (District 9, Illinois)
Elton Murphy, Editor
3rd The "Fighting 6th" District News (District 6, Minnesota)
Delphine Kelly, Editor
Medium (1,300-2,099 members)
1st The Untouchable News (District 2, Illinois)
Robert Drzewiecki, Editor
2nd VFW District 16 (District 16, New Jersey)
Allen "Red" Rhodes, Editor
Small (1,299 or fewer members)
1st District 9 (District 9, Oregon)
Dennis Marsh, Editor
2nd On the Point (District 6, Idaho)
Bob Jackson, Editor
3rd Double One Newswire (District 11, Colorado)
John Loring, Editor
Post Publications
Large (180 or more members)
1st Newsletter (Post 9639, Pennsylvania)
Randy Eckert, Editor
2nd Bugle Newsletter (Post 2111, California)
Russ Eseltine, Editor
3rd The John Lyon Gazette (Post 3150, Virginia)
J. Gary Wagner, Editor
Medium (100-179 members)
1st VFW Post 2016 News (Post 2016, Massachusetts)
Dennis "Ski" Iworsky, Editor
2nd VFW Post 1038 News (Post 1038, Wisconsin)
Leroy G. Jansky, Editor
3rd On Target (Post 3272, Connecticut)
William Newman, Editor
Small (99 or fewer members)
1st C.V. Cummings, VFW Post 9100 (Post 9100, North Carolina)
Lee Heavlin, Editor
2nd The Connection (Post 12075, Texas)
James Haycraft, Editor
3rd VFW Post 11018 Newsletter (Post 11018, Illinois)
Gerold R. Abraham, Editor
Questions/comments? Contact: Kelly Von Lunen kvonlunen@vfw.org