JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. — Moultrie Scene magazine shone at the Georgia Press Association awards banquet Friday on Jekyll Island.

The Moultrie Observer garnered a total of nine editorial awards; four of them were for its work on Moultrie Scene, including first place in the Best Magazine Product category.

The GPA awards honored work produced during the 2020 calendar year. Entries were judged within circulation categories. Results of a separate advertising competition have not been released.

In addition to the top magazine prize, Moultrie Scene was honored with:

• Magazine In-House Photography, first place, Jill Stringfellow and Bryce Ethridge for photos that accompanied Ethridge’s article, “The Heart of Downtown,” about downtown apartments in the September 2020 issue.

• Magazine Commentary, second place, Chuck Bowen for his article “Teaching School,” which also published in the September 2020 issue.

• Magazine Original Writing, third place, Savannah Donald for her article “Creations by Zee” about jewelry artist Amzie Cooper, which published in the April 2020 issue.

Moultrie Scene, which launched in the summer of 2017, is published seven times each year.

Earlier this year, the magazine also was named Magazine of the Year by CNHI. That contest includes all newspapers from across CNHI, the parent company of The Moultrie Observer, and it is also judged within circulation categories.

Outside of the magazine, The Moultrie Observer won four awards for the newspaper itself and one for its website:

• Connie Southwell won first place for Best Photo Gallery on a Newspaper Website for a collection of photos she shot of a drive-by birthday celebration for 105-year-old Ophelia Allegood in May 2020, when coronavirus restrictions prevented her family and friends from holding a large gathering.

• The newspaper staff won first place in the Page One category.

• The staff won first place in the Local News category.

• Reporter Savannah Donald won first place in Education Writing.

• Managing Editor Kevin Hall won third place in Headline Writing.

Most of the GPA contest’s categories for newspapers involve a submission package of three works, so those awards can’t be attributed to any single article or issue.

Despite its strong showing, The Observer didn’t place among the top three newspapers in its division. Those honors went to The Press Sentinel in Jesup, third place; The Newnan Times-Herald in Newnan, second place; and The Walton Tribune in Monroe, first place.

The Valdosta Daily Times, which won first place in the General Excellence category in its size division, also won the prestigious Freedom of Information Award for doing the most in 2020 to uphold the principles of the First Amendment and protecting the public’s right to know. The Daily Times, also owned by CNHI, is a sister paper to The Moultrie Observer.