Competing with hundreds of newspaper across the state, North Country This Week has been honored for the quality of staff-designed advertising layouts.

“Holiday Showcase,” a special four-color section that included numerous ads promoting gift ideas available in St. Lawrence County, won second place in the “Best Multi-Advertiser Pages” category in the “Better Newspaper Contest” sponsored by the New York Press Association.

And “What’s Your Dream,” an ad promoting romantic honeymoon destinations for Travel Unlimited in Canton, received second place in the “Best Small Space Ad” category.

“’Holiday Showcase’ really captures the seasonal feel with four pages of festive colors and beautifully designed ads,” wrote the judges. “The modular page design allowed me to peruse at a comfortable pace for a very enjoyable shopping experience.”

Ads in the special section, which was published on Nov. 26, 2014, were designed by Lisa Hoover, office manager, Georgia Schiavone, production manager, and Debbie Morgan, recently retired assistant general manager.

“This ad just makes ya feel warm,” wrote the judges about the Travel Unlimited ad, which was designed by Morgan. The ad ran in the North Country This Week “Bride Guide” special section on Jan. 15, 2014.

The awards were announced at the newspaper association annual spring convention in Saratoga Springs March 27 and 28.

North Country This Week competed against similarly sized papers from the Hamptons on Long Island to the suburbs of Buffalo, owned both by corporate groups and individuals. Hundreds of weekly newspapers, small dailies and specialty publications competed in the contest.

NYPA membership is composed primarily of paid weekly newspapers throughout the state, but free papers like North Country This Week and some small daily newspapers also belong to the organization. NYPA’s membership totals more than 800 weekly community newspapers, small daily newspapers, and culturally-specific newspapers.