Citizen's Kruszewski wins 3 VPC awards

Henrico Citizen Managing Editor Patty Kruszewski won three awards in the Virginia Professional Communicators 2026 communications contest, including two first-place entries that advanced to the National Federation of Press Women competition.

Awards were announced at the VPC spring conference held in April.

Kruszewski won a first place award in the specialty articles history category with her story about a famous race horse, entitled, "Near his Henrico foaling site, Boston gets his due." Judges called it a "fantastic story," and praised Kruszewski's "excellent" use of quotes.

Kruszewski also took a first place in the columns division with her Plate & Goblet column entitled, "Lotte Lovers, tortillas, & Veganuary." Judges praised the column as both informative and enjoyable to read, citing the balance between personal experience and use of facts and statistics. "A fun piece," said judges, adding that the personalized language in particular, made it a "light, heartwarming read."

Another edition of Plate & Goblet, "NA Growth, and Ronnie's Rules," won second place in the columns division. "This column . . is a wealth of information," commented a judge. "I really liked how you dive into both the science behind NA beverages and what’s [driving] the recent trend. . . You also did a great job at characterizing the dishes you spoke about, and I really enjoyed the personal touches in the language . . .things like referencing the audience and including your own internal thoughts."

A number of Henrico residents and University of Richmond staffers also won VPC awards, including Laura Fortunato, Sara Hunt, Kyra Molinaro, Cynthia Price, Joan Tupponce, and Jill Vaughan.

For a full list of awards, visit vapc.org/vapc/2026-communications-contest-state-level-results/.