Panhandle Press members gather for 115th convention

Tara Huff, publisher of The Eagle Press, was inducted into the Panhandle Press Association Hall of Fame Friday night during the annual PPA convention this weekend in Borger. On hand at the banquet held at the Phillips College Library were (from left) Creed Huff, Tara Huff and presenters PPA Secretary Roger Estlack and Deborah Wells, former owner of The Eagle Press.

BORGER – The 115th annual meeting of the Panhandle Press Association was held July 19-20 in Borger.

The convention opened with a luncheon on Friday during which with Dr. Don Newbury providing entertainment. The Borger Honor Guard of the Elks Lodge presented the colors for the luncheon and the banquet that evening.

Friday afternoon featured a program by Shane Lance of The Quanah Tribune-Chief focused on using newspaper archives to publish local history books. PPA members then enjoyed a Sip & Shop tour of local businesses organized by the Borger Main Street program.

Tara Huff of the Eagle Press in Hutchinson County was inducted into the PPA Hall of Fame at the banquet, with local singer Willy Wigs providing entertainment for the evening.

Huff began her career at KBBB and KBXR in Borger before taking a job at the Eagle Press in Fritch in 1996 as the ad sales representative. She left the paper for a brief period but returned and purchased the Eagle Press in 2010.

Since that time, Huff has uncovered major stories involving embezzlement and scandal at city hall and in the police department. Her work to expose what was going on helped the city make necessary changes and get back on track and helped earn her a reputation for holding officials accountable. Local officials respect her, and the Hutchinson County Commissioners named the Eagle Press as their paper of record for the last two years.

Huff covered the 2014 wildfire that destroyed more than 200 structures in her community, and she did so again in 2024 when another wildfire devastated Hutchinson County and Fritch in particular. Her livestream with the fire raging around her helped her community stay in touch, saved lives and was a constant source of credible information to the rest of the world about what was happening at the time. Huff was named both the Borger Chamber of Commerce 2024 Hero of the Year and the 2024 Elk of the Year due to her reporting on the Windy Deuce and Smokehouse Creek fires. Her predecessor, former Eagle Press publisher Debra Wells, called Huff “a stalwart journalist of the highest caliber.”

Saturday morning’s sessions were led by Austin Lewter of the Texas Center for Community Journalism with classes on AI in the Newsroom and Connecting with Generation Z. Saturday afternoon was devoted to a revenue round table and the annual PPA Ethics Panel.

Better Newspaper Contest Awards were presented during the banquet on Saturday with live music by the Geezers Gone Wild band. The Clarendon Enterprise won General Excellence honors in Division One, and The Hereford Brand topped Division Two. Ashlyn Harvell of Canyon and Sage Gaillard of Gruver were named as the PPA scholarship recipients for the coming year.

Tim Ritter of Canyon was recognized for his service as PPA president this past year. The membership re-elected Ritter to a second term. 

He is joined by Tara Huff of Fritch as vice president and Roger Estlack of Clarendon as secretary/treasurer. Macce Sater of Groom was elected as a new member of the PPA board. Returning directors are Shane Lance of Quanah, Michael Wright of Dumas, Suzanne Bellsnyder of Spearman and Shannon Cook of Canyon. Jeff Blackmon of Hereford also continues to serve on the board as the PPA’s immediate past president.

Next year’s Panhandle Press Convention will be held in Amarillo on July 18 and 19, 2025.