BARBARA HILL HONORED WITH FRIEND OF SEMO PRESS AWARD

The Southeast Missouri Press Association honored longtime newspaper publisher Barbara Hill of Dexter. She was recognized with the 1999 Mildred Wallhausen Friend of the Southeast Missouri Press Award.

The award is named for the longtime Charleston Enterprise-Courier publisher who was its first recipient in 1997.

It was presented by Press Association President Judy Schaaf at a banquet Friday night at Dempster Hall on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

The banquet capped a day of newspaper-oriented workshops that drew close to 100 newspaper people to the meeting.

Hill's journalism career spans some 34 years, all in Dexter. She joined Rust Communications as publisher in 1991 and currently manages Delta Publishing Corporation, which includes two daily and two weekly newspapers.

The Delta newspapers include The Daily Statesman in Dexter, The Daily Dunklin Democrat in Kennett, The Delta News Journal in Malden and The North Stoddard Countian with satellite offices in Bloomfield and Advance.

Hill has served in several offices of the Southeast Missouri Press Association, including president, and has served as treasurer of the Missouri Press Association. She is also a charter member and past president of the Heartland Writer's Guild.

She and her husband, Harold, have one daughter and three granddaughters.

Also honored by the SEMO Press Friday was Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast. For the past 14 years, Wallhausen has served as executive secretary of the organization.

Berrin Beasley, who teaches mass communications at the university, and Ann Hayes, director of the university's news bureau, will share the executive secretary duties during the coming year.

Peggy Scott, a longtime staff writer at the Southeast Missourian was elected president of the organization. She will plan and direct the April 2000 annual meeting in Cape Girardeau.

Other officers for the coming year elected at the business meeting include

-- Barbara Horton of the Prospect News in Doniphan as first vice president.

-- Russ Cannon of the Daily Journal in Park Hills as second vice president.

-- Kim Gipson of the Wayne County Banner-Journal as secretary-treasurer.

-- Mildred Wallhausen of the Charleston Enterprise-Courier as historian.

-- And board members Joni Adams of the Southeast Missourian, Judy Schaaf of the Ironton Mountain Echo, Cecilia Fallert of the Perry County Republic-Monitor in Perryville and Patrick Martin of the Jefferson County Leader in Festus.

The press organization involves weekly and daily newspapers from Festus to the Arkansas line.