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New officers to serve 18 months during transition to one annual meeting

TPA President Laurie Ezzell Brown and other officers installed at the summer leadership retreat will serve 18-month terms during the organization’s transition to a single meeting each year.
Other TPA leaders taking office with Brown are First Vice President Ramona Ferguson, Columbus, The Banner Press; Second Vice President Jim Bardwell, Gladewater Mirror; Treasurer Leonard Woolsey, Galveston County Daily News and TPA Executive Director Mike Hodges. Directors beginning new three-year terms are Sue Brown, Pleasanton Express, and Bill Patterson, Denton Record-Chronicle.
At the June general membership meeting, TPA members approved bylaw changes proposed by the TPA board of directors. Some of the changes will begin at the January 2019 Midwinter Meeting and Trade Show, which begins the transition. Some of TPA’s annual awards traditionally presented at the June meeting will be presented in January 2019 midwinter meeting, including the Mayborn Award for Community Leadership, the TPA Golden 50 Award and the Fred Hartman Award for Excellence in Sportswriting. Nomination periods for these awards will be announced soon.
Officer elections and installation have traditionally been held at the summer meeting. Since there will be no meeting next summer, officers installed June 23 will serve an additional six months until the January 2020 Midwinter meeting.
There also will be schedule changes to the Texas Better Newspaper Contest. Awards will be presented at the January convention beginning in 2020, with the contest period beginning each year in September and ending in August. During the transition, the contest period for the awards presented in 2020 will be extended for six months to run from Jan. 1, 2018 until Aug. 31, 2019.
TPA volunteers will still be needed to help judge the Tennessee Press Association Contest in spring 2019.