Mike Middlesworth, a career newspaperman and former Honolulu Advertiser managing editor, will be the guest speaker during the Big Island Press Club’s annual scholarship dinner at 5:30 p.m. May 3 at the Seaside Restaurant in Hilo.
The club will honor six 2018 scholarship recipients receiving a collective $5,100.
• The winner of this year’s $1,500 Bill Arballo Scholarship is Jordan Virtue, a 2016 graduate of Hawaii Preparatory Academy, now attending Harvard College.
• HPA senior Kento Komatsu, an aspiring documentary filmmaker, will receive the $1,000 Marcia Reynolds Scholarship.
• Waiakea High School senior Brett Fujii, a sports journalism intern at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, will be awarded the $1,000 Hugh Clark Scholarship.
• Madison Pratt, a Keaau High School newspaper writer, won the $600 Yukino Fukubori Memorial Scholarship.
• University of Hawaii at Hilo students Peter Chao will receive the Robert Miller Scholarship and Rosannah Gosser the Jack Markey Scholarship of $500 each. Both are staff members at UH-Hilo’s Ke Kalahea newspaper.
Middlesworth, a Big Island resident, has an extensive resume as a writer, editor, managing editor and technology consultant for newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. He was named managing editor of the Honolulu Advertiser in 1973 and helped guide the newspaper through its conversion to computerized production.
In 1986, he became the Advertiser’s business manager, responsible for systems management, budgeting, labor relations and service on the Hawaii Newspaper Agency’s management committee.
Middlesworth left the Advertiser in 1992 when it was sold to Gannett and became a newspaper technology consultant with clients worldwide.
Founded in 1967, the Big Island Press Club is the state’s oldest and most active media organization in the state of Hawaii.
“A core function of the Big Island Press Club is awarding scholarships to the next generation of journalists,” said John Burnett, president of Big Island Press Club and a Hawaii Tribune-Herald reporter. “With the help of generous donations, our club awards thousands of dollars to deserving students yearly. Some recipients remain journalists decades later, myself included.”
Dinner features prime rib and macadamia-crusted mahimahi. Advance dinner reservations are $35 for BIPC members, $40 for nonmembers. No-host cocktails will be available.
Tickets or RSVPs must be made by Friday, April 27. Order online through Eventbrite https://bigislandpressclub.eventbrite.com/ for a small processing fee.
Send checks to Big Island Press Club, P.O. Box 1920, Hilo, HI 96721. For info or RSVP, contact Jim Wilson at 987-5894.
