By Elizabeth Granger, WPCI Scholarship Director
Four communicators received scholarships and grants from WPCI during the club’s annual communications banquet April 26 in Indianapolis. Each of the awards includes a $500 cash prize.
Viv Sade of Churubusco, WPCI’s immediate past president, received a Kleinhenz scholarship to attend the March 2026 Erma Bombeck conference at the University of Dayton. A retired journalist, she continues to write as a freelancer. She is putting together a book based on humor columns she’s had published, which chronicle the raising of her four children which, she said, “is the main cause of my nervous tics.” The book is not an advice manual but rather a guide “in how not to parent.”
Rachael Ackley of Shelbyville, executive director of the Shelby County Tourism & Visitors Bureau, also was awarded a Kleinhenz scholarship. She has published two books about Shelby County’s history and relevance and will use the scholarship to take courses to further her writing skills – a Writing in Nature course through the Indiana Writers Center, and a Dave Griffith course focusing on the power of storytelling.
“We cannot communicate our stories without the ability to bring a place to life for the reader through creative words, real-life experiences, and colorful narratives,” she wrote in her application.
An artist, Ackley will also study the work of Kentucky’s Jayson Fann to create a life-size eagle nest as an interactive sculpture.
The Kleinhenz scholarships, for mature (that is, older than 30) Indiana journalists desiring to upgrade skills, are named in honor of Louise Eleanor Ross Kleinhenz, a 45-year-member of WPCI who served the organization as president, historian and Bulletin editor before her death in 1977.
Carrie Steinweg, a freelance travel journalist from Valparaiso, has received the Granger Travel Journalism grant. She will use it to cover expenses related to attending the 2025 Midwest Travel Network Conference in Nebraska.
“Although I have been doing travel writing for a quarter-century, most of my work has concentrated on the Great Lakes states and this would be my first time visiting Nebraska, giving me opportunities to not only network and learn from experts in the field, but to explore a new place and a new part of the Midwest.”
The award was established in 2021 by MTJA active Elizabeth Granger to honor her husband, Fred, who died in 2020. They were a travel journalism team for more than 25 years, she as a writer/photographer and he – as he’d say – as a photographer/luggage carrier.
Niki Kelly Lohrmann of Lebanon captured the Julie and Gene Slaymaker Public Service to Journalism Award. She is the founder of the Indiana Capital Chronicle in Indiana, which focuses on providing “enterprise and investigative pieces that matter.”
She wrote, “We all know about the loss of local news coverage, and nowhere has this been clearer than on state government and policy. Most newspapers have shuttered their bureaus, shrinking TV newsrooms generally focus on the sexy, visually interesting bills and Hoosiers are left without meaningful coverage of what their state lawmakers and governor are doing.” Her small team provides free coverage for any state media outlet.
Devan Filchak, metro and enterprise editor at the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, wrote, “I expected Indiana Capital Chronicle to Flourish under Niki’s leadership, but the actual effect on the news landscape in Indiana has been astounding. Without Niki’s work, I fear many state lawmakers and officials would go unchecked.”
The Julie and Gene Slaymaker Public Service to Journalism Award is in memory of Gene Slaymaker, a WPCI member who died in 2012. It was established by his wife Julie in honor of their 30 years of service as statewide contest directors of the Indiana Professional Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists. Both Slaymakers served as president of IndyPro SPJ. They were also elected to offices in WPCI. Julie was president three times and Gene was treasurer when he died.
More:
WPCI honors contest winners
High school winners win national awards
Learn more about the scholarships and grants program
