Clarendon Enterprise publisher Roger Estlack received the West Texas Press Association’s Harold Hudson Award last Friday during the WTPA’s annual convention in Granbury.
The award is given to an individual who has significantly contributed to the publishing industry and West Texas Press Association and is given in memory of the late Harold Hudson, publisher of the Perryton Herald and prominent member and past president of WTPA, the Panhandle Press Association, the Texas Press Association, and and the National Newspaper Association.
This year’s Hudson award was presented by last year’s winner, Lisa Davis of the Wise County Messenger in Decatur.
Estlack is graduate of Clarendon High School, Clarendon College, and Texas Tech University; and for the past 22 years has been the owner, publisher and editor of the Texas Panhandle’s oldest newspaper, The Clarendon Enterprise.
He is a past president of the WTPA and Panhandle Press Association and the current secretary of PPA.
He is the secretary of the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation and has worked to save the historic Mulkey Theatre. He is also the president of the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce and secretary of the Clarendon Lions Club. He is serving as Worshipful Master of Clarendon Masonic Lodge #700, is the Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 437, and is active in the Al Morrah Shrine Club and the First United Methodist Church.
He married Ashlee Estlack in 2004, and they have two children – Benjamin and Elaina – and all together they are the fourth and fifth generations of the Estlack family to cover the news in Donley County. His parents, Allen and Helen Estlack, were also very instrumental in making the paper what it is today. They passed away in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
The WTPA recognized Estlack for his work in community journalism, fighting for improvements and keeping his finger on the pulse of the community while covering everything from local events to the hometown boy in the United States Congress. Among the many articles he has written, he has covered Open Meeting Act violations, Facebooked severe weather information, editorialized against religious bigotry, helped bring high speed Internet to local communities, and supported the restoration of the 1890 Donley County Courthouse.
Under his leadership, the Enterprise has won regional, state, and national awards for its coverage of the community.
Also during last weekend’s WTPA convention, the Enterprise received two first place plaques for Advertising and Special Sections among weekly newspapers in Division D. The paper received a second place award for Feature Writing and third place for General Excellence and was third overall in its division for the Sweepstakes Award.
Attending the conference and representing the Enterprise was Roger, Ashlee, and Elaina Estlack.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.