UM student, outdoor writers honored

WORCESTER, Mass. – A University of Maine student majoring in wildlife ecology, two Maine outdoor writers and two Maine outdoor photographers received regional recognition for their work at the 66th annual meeting of the New England Outdoor Writers Association last week.

Katie Andrle, a junior at the University of Maine, was one of six New England college students selected by the writers organization to receive $2,500 scholarships. A Maine native from Clifton who hopes to become a wildlife biologist after some postgraduate work, Andrle plans to specialize in working with birds of prey. In accepting her scholarship awards, Andrle thanked the NEOWA members and said, “I share your passion of hunting and fishing and the outdoors.”

Among a field of 100 outdoor writers who belong to the NEOWA, Hampden resident V. Paul Reynolds received six first-place awards in the annual outdoor writing competition. With a column titled “Baron of the West Branch is Gone,” about the late Millinocket guide Wiggie Robinson, Reynolds received a first-place award for best New England outdoor column. Reynolds, who is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal and host of a statewide radio program Maine Outdoors, also writes a weekly outdoor column for the Lewiston Sun-Journal and a number of Maine weekly newspapers.

Diane Reynolds of Hampden, an outdoor photographer for the Northwoods Sporting Journal, won a first-place award for outdoor photography in the scenic category for a Newfoundland photograph titled “Afternoon On the Humber.” Reynolds is a retired schoolteacher and active outdoorswoman. She is a director of NEOWA and Maine’s Becoming an Outdoor Woman program.

Sheila Grant of Parkman, an outdoor columnist for the Northwoods Sporting Journal, won a first-place award for outdoor photography in the flora category for a photograph titled “Balloon Flowers.” Grant also writes for other publications including the Bangor Daily News.

Another Maine outdoor columnist, Matt Dunlap, who writes a monthly outdoor column for the Northwoods Sporting Journal, won a second-place award for best magazine column. Dunlap is a former state legislator and Maine’s current secretary of state. He also co-hosts the radio program “Maine Outdoors.”