Citizen’s Kruszewski wins national press award

Henrico Citizen Managing Editor Patty Kruszewski, who won two awards in the Virginia Professional Communicators 2024 communications contest, has placed among the top finishers in the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) competition. National winners were announced June 22 at a ceremony during the NFPW Conference held in St. Louis.

Kruszewski won a second-place NFPW award in the columns category with her personal opinion piece, “A Night with Chef Paul,” which advanced to national competition after winning first place in the statewide VPC contest. The column, which ran in a December 2023 edition of the Citizen, described the evening her daughter spent at La Petite France at the invitation of the late Paul Elbling, an internationally renowned chef who brought French cuisine to Richmond and founded the French Food Festival.

Among other NFPW winners with Henrico ties were Karen Schwartzkopf, who took second place in a publications category for Richmond Family Magazine, and Joan Tupponce, who took three NFPW awards: a second place for specialty articles – education, a third place for specialty articles – sports, and an honorable mention for a personality profile.