MAY 3, 2010

This year's Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP) Publisher of the Year recipient, Karen Sawicz, first got ink in her blood when she was 12 years old.

She started working for her parents in the family publication doing tear sheets for customers and helping her mother in the dark room. As she grew so did her responsibilities. She helped her Father in the press room, learning how to do plates and blankets on the offset press, answering phones, waiting on customers - even loading and unloading trucks. By the time she was ready to leave for college, she was making sales calls and setting type. Following two years of college where she majored in Sociology, she returned to Albion, New York to get married, and went back to work with her parents - where she took on the new challenge of graphics.

Our recipient attributes the success of the Lake Country Pennysaver to her parents, who gave her good work and business ethics as well as to her employees and to her faith.

She has devoted countless hours to free paper associations, serving on the board of directors of AFCP, as well as the Free Community Papers of New York and Community Papers Advertising Network . The New York association has named her publisher of the year on two separate occasions in recognition of her enormous contributions.

For AFCP, she has stepped up to plate to volunteer for any function where her help was needed. Her active participation on both the INK and conference committees has seen her serve as the Free Paper INK chair and as the Program Chair for the annual conference when it was held in Myrtle Beach.

Karen also devotes time to community service - serving as president of several chambers of commerce and as a member and the first female president of the Rotary Club in Albion, New York. Her Rotary Club named her a Paul Harris Fellow, its most prestigious award.

Besides her volunteer accomplishments, she finds time to publish and lead one of Upstate New York’s award winning publications, the Lake Country Pennysaver.

One of the truly successful publishers in the free paper industry, Karen contributes greatly to the success and growth of AFCP.

Congratulations Karen from your fellow FCPNY members!