Winning Pic of the Week helps heals my damaged ego

   I didn't earn an award in the 2012 Ohio News Photographer Association this past weekend, but I did win Picture of the Week today!
   Every week a photo is chosen to hang at the entrance of the Toledo Blade. Though this photo of the Mud Hens catcher missing a tag never made it into the paper, it was published online in a photo gallery. Although not every story allows for multiple photos, it's nice to have a venue to showcase our work when there's plenty of it.
   News photographers used to shoot LOTS of photos, only to see one or two make the paper. Now we can submit up to 15 or more for the online gallery. This is also beneficial because a few contests only allow published work.
   Anyway, I just wanted to share that this Pic of the Week ends my long awardless drought.
   

Hicksville, Ohio is much more than its name

A quaint little motel/RV resort in Hicksville, Ohio.

   Toledo Blade reporter Tyrel Linkhorn and I traveled to Hicksville, Ohio for two days last month for the Decision 2012: The View from MAIN STREET series.
   Hicksville is one of several Ohio small towns, including Lima, Archbold and Pemberville, that Blade reporters examined to find out the political climate throughout Northwest, Ohio.
   We were concerned about finding a place to stay, considering Hicksville is, well, Hicksville. It's in Defiance County, near the Indiana border, and is only 2.5 square miles. It's in the middle of nowhere. The editors wanted all reporter/photographer teams to stay in the towns we featured. So, to our relief, Hicksville has a small but lovely motel right outside of town. What made this place so unique is that right behind the motel there were about half a dozen electrical and water hookups for RVs!
   Hicksville, with a population of under 4,000, is a quaint little farmers town surrounded by industry, farmland and homes as costly as $365,900! I love strolling up and down Main Street, talking to the residents, and eating in several of the seven restaurants. You read me right. Seven restaurants!
   To read the article and view the photos, click here.