SAVE THE DATES: Join MDDC's Press Foundation for Two Beltway Baseball Fundraisers

The MDDC Press Foundation is teaming with the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals to give our membership an outstanding opportunity to take in some Beltway baseball and contribute to the foundation, too!

The best part? You buy tickets from either Nationals or Orioles for the MDDC Press Foundation game (listed below) as you would any other game and the Press Foundation gets between $6-7 for every ticket sold at either venue. Both the Orioles and Nationals are building a dedicated link for MDDC members to purchase tickets from, which will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.

On June 14, the MDDC Press Foundation will join the Orioles on Thursday evening game versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. MDDC members can purchase a left field lower reserve seat for $15 each and the MDDC Foundation will receive $7 per ticket. The Orioles have reserved a block of 50 tickets in a section of Oriole Park at Camden Yards which is also covered from potential rain or sun.

On July 20, the MDDC Press Foundation will join the Nationals for their Friday evening game with the Atlanta Braves, a National League East Division rival. MDDC members can purchase an outfield reserve seat $20 each, and the Press Foundation will receive $6 per ticket! The Nationals have also reserved a block of 50 tickets. Nationals Park is conveniently located just three blocks from the nearest Metro station (Navy Yard) on the Green Line, and MDDC members will be able to purchase tickets from section 105, which is the closest gate to the Metro station. 

We’ll be posting dedicated links for each fundraiser game on the MDDC Press website, and we’ll be tweeting reminders, too. This is an excellent way to build some fellowship on your newspaper staff, help a worthy cause and best of all, enjoy some Beltway baseball!

Lou Panos, Bruce Hotchkiss Join John League at LEAD

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE AWARDS DINNER CASTS 60TH, 61ST HOF MEMBERS

There's no doubt Lou Panos, Sr. is an  elder statesman of the MDDC Press Association, but he's still the same eloquent wordsmith longtime members remember from his heyday of the late 1940s through the past decade.

Panos, longtime Patuxent Publishing editorial writer and columnist and former Associated Press staffer, offered a stirring speech in accepting the 61st spot in the MDDC Hall of Fame April 19 at the Legacy of Excellence Awards Dinner in Baltimore. Adding to the cheer of the evening was a proclamation conferred upon Panos following his acceptance speech on behalf of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley.   The official state document, framed and carrying the official state seal, lauded Panos for his professional excellence in the most prominent positions of his career.

Preceding Panos was Bruce Hotchkiss, Editor-In-Chief of the Delmarva Farmer. Hotchkiss spoke passionately about the daily dedication of the American farmer. Hotchkiss took the former monthly supplemental known as the Central Shore Farmer and turned it into the weekly Delmarva Farmer. Hotchkiss earned the MDDC's 60th Hall of Fame spot.

John League, a 32-year veteran of the Herald-Mail in Hagerstown, Md., began the evening's festivities by accepting the eighth Distinguished Service Award (DSA). It's the first time the DSA has been awarded at the annual Hall of Fame dinner, and the new presentation format was largely hailed as a success.

While the format of the editorial and advertising awards are expected to undergo modification, the Legacy of Excellence Awards Dinner format will continue to be held in the traditional, evening dinner format.

Jacob Bogage Accepts 2012 Powell High School Journalist of the Year

SHERWOOD SENIOR NOT UNDECIDED ABOUT CAREER DREAMS

Jacob Bogage doesn't need to be told when he's looking a great story — the Sherwood High School senior instinctively knows it. It's a trait no journalism school can teach and has already served Bogage well.

Bogage accepted the 2012 winner of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association's Michael S. Powell High School Journalist of the Year award on April 20 at the Sheraton's Four Points BWI hotel during MDDC's annual editorial awards luncheon.

Bogage, the Executive Editor for Sherwood's Warrior newspaper, and a youth staff writer for the Washington Post's All-Met section, is presently undecided on a college but has no reservations about his career path. In fact, he's already made a believer of Peter Huck, Sherwood English teacher and faculty adviser to the Warrior.

"I can recall only one other student I've taught who seemed so destined for the journalism profession, and that student is a 23-year-old staff writer at the Washington Post," said Huck in a January 30th recommendation letter written on behalf of Bogage. "Jacob is currently editor of the Warrior, while still writing two articles a week, steering editorial decisions about content, layout and design, and has taken on the additional responsibility of training staff how to report and write article."

MDDC IS YOUR ONLINE LEARNING RESOURCE!

MDDC is partnered with the Online Media Campus and Inland Press Association to offer a slate of affordable webinars on subjects such as digital sales, legal immunity, and overcoming objections. Classes remain affordable at just $35 per class and are available online when you're available!

MDDC IS NOW ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER!

Finally, right? MDDC now has a Facebook and Twitter presence. Go ahead and like us, or add us to your feed, and we'll reciprocate.

Your MDDC Facebook page is found at: http://www.facebook.com/MDDCPress.

Our Twitter handle is @MDDCPress and our page can be found at: https://twitter.com/#!/MDDCPress.

MDDC MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY AVAILABLE NOW!

The membership directory in PDF format remains available for download on an as-needed basis and it includes updates for 2012. Download it now. Updates are made on an as-submitted basis.

2012 REESE CLEGHORN SUMMER INTERNS ANNOUNCED!

Congrats to the incoming Class of Cleghorn for 2012!

Katherine Conner (Northwestern Univ.), Gazette Newspapers; Brian Fanney (Univ. of North Carolina), The Frederick News-Post; Sarah Hainesworth (Bowie State Univ.), Prince George's County Sentinel; Sarah Houge (Univ. of Maryland), Patuxent Publishing; Lauren Kirkwood (Univ. of Maryland), The Herald-Mail; Martin Martinez (Univ. of Delaware), Cecil Whig; Elizabeth McLellan (Univ. of Maryland), The Daily Record; Shawn Saiya (Univ. of Rhode Island), Baltimore Business Journal