Tsutsumi brings travel writing award home to ‘Hawaii’s Backyard’

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi's Star-Bulletin Sunday travel column, "Hawaii's Backyard," has won the silver award in the category of travel columns* in the Society of American Travel Writers-Western Chapter writing competition.

The awards were announced June 28 aboard the Battleship Missouri at the closing of the group's conference in Hawaii.

The competition covered similar columns that run in newspapers and magazines in 13 Western states and Mexico.

The gold award went to Janet Fullwood of the Sacramento Bee, and the bronze to Elizabeth Harryman and Paul Lasley of Westways.

Tsutsumi's winning entry covered columns on the Shim Coffee, Protea and Botanical Farm in Kula, the Paniolo Heritage Rodeo and Festival on Molokai and the Great Ohana Hunt in Waikiki.

Since the column was launched in 2001, "Hawaii's Backyard" has placed in five out of six SATW-Western Chapter writing competitions: 2002 (bronze), 2003 (silver), 2004 (silver), 2006 (bronze) and 2007 (silver).

She is on vacation this month.