N.F. LEIFER MEMORIAL JOURNALISM AWARD

Every edition of Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News contains each electric co-op's own, personalized pages. Found on pages 15-18, the local news is developed by personnel at each co-op. Local pages have been a part of the magazine since May 1950. 
 
In the spirit of friendly competition and as a way to encourage local editors and reward their efforts, each year since 1966, WECA has presented awards to individual co-ops for excellence in presenting their local news. Annually we present an award for overall excellence--the N. F. Leifer Memorial Journalism Award, named for "Lefty" Leifer, former manager of Vernon Electric. Lefty was instrumental in the founding of the REA News back in the spring of 1940, making the statewide electric co-op publication the first of its type in the nation.

The Leifer Award winner is determined by an outside communications professional, who evaluates three chosen selections of each co-op’s local pages and determines which co-op was most successful in presenting local news.

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Seen here in 1953, Lefty Leifer works on one of the first pieces of load-management gear installed at his co-op—it was called the Norwec Level-Load. The N. F. Leifer Memorial Journalism Award was named for the former manager of Vernon Electric. Lefty was instrumental in the founding of the REA News back in the spring of 1940, making the statewide electric co-op publication the first of its type in the nation.







Past Leifer Award Winners
1966    Crawford
1967    Crawford       
1968    Crawford
1969    Richland
1970    Crawford
1971    Columbus
1972    Barron
1973    Crawford
1974    Rock County  
1975    Eau Claire
1976    Barron
1977    St. Croix
1978    Crawford
1979    Buffalo
1980    Vernon
1981    Buffalo
1982    Grant
1983    Head of the Lakes
1984    Oakdale
1985    Barron
1986    Jackson
1987    Barron
1988    Barron
1989    Grant
1990    Vernon
1991    Adams-Columbia
1992    Oakdale
1993    Oakdale
1994    Grant-Lafayette
1995    St. Croix
1996    Oakdale
1997    Grant-Lafayette
1998    Eau Claire
1999    Vernon Electric Cooperative
2000    Oconto Electric Cooperative
2001    Adam-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2002    Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2003    Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2004    Vernon Electric Cooperative
2005    Dunn Energy Cooperative
2006    Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2007    Richland Electric Cooperative
2008    Richland Electric Cooperative
2009    Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2010    Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2011    Richland Electric Cooperative
2012    Rock Energy Cooperative
2013    Clark Electric Cooperative
2014    Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2015    Jackson Electric Cooperative
2016    Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2017    Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2018    Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2019    Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2020    Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2021    Oakdale Electric Cooperative