Photo of the Month

Pre-kindergarten students from Nettie Marshall Early Childhood Center lead the pledge of allegiance at the former Fredonia Elementary campus. Fredonia will be Nacogdoches ISD’s new early childhood center beginning in August.

Josh Edwards/The Daily Sentinel

April Photo of the Month

Sky Von Decker, 8, stuffs his face while participating in the spaghetti-eating contest at the 2023 Dickinson Little Italy Festival of Galveston County

-Stuart Villauneva/The Daily News

SNI Photo of the Month

Emily Langner and her friends hold their umbrellas aloft while marching in the Funky Uptown Umbrella Brigade Parade in downtown Galveston on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023.

PHOTO: Daily News Photo/Stuart Villanueva

SNI Photo of the Month

Pink Warrior Advocates Chief Operating Officer Krystal Haas reacts as she is named recipient of the 2022 Distinguished Young Leader award at the Rising Stars of New Braunfels gala Friday, Jan. 13.

 

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung/Alma Hernandez

SNI Photo of the Month

Jackson Sowell looks around uneasily as he holds the Bible for the swearing in of his grandfather, Nacogdoches County Judge Greg Sowell.

Josh Edwards/The Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel

SNI Photo of the Month

Brazoswood's Cole Hagan, center, is consoled by Dawson Scott (50) and Isaac Ponce (7) following a bidistrict round loss to Shadow Creek at Alvin ISD's Freedom Field in Iowa Colony.

Facts photo/Prentice James

Photo by Samuel Beaver / The Kerrville Daily Times

SNI Photo of the Month Gideon Brown, 7 months, looks at other children in costume as he’s held by his mother, Nina Malone, during the Trunk or Treat Halloween event at Emeline Carpenter Elementary School.

Josh Edwards/The Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel

SNI Photo of the Month

From left, Little Miss 2021 Kamryn Jennings, 2015 rodeo queen Jolee Schaefer and 2021 rodeo queen Natalie Flores wait for the 2022 Brazoria County rodeo queen contest winner to be announced Oct. 1 at the Brazoria County Fairgrounds arena in Angleton.

Photo: Jesse Miller, Jr/The Facts

September Photo of the Month Pilot Clemens “Chef” Kuhlig, third from left, walks around his Pitts Special S-1S homemade biplane in a hangar after arriving at Scholes International Airport in Galveston on Wednesday, Aug. 10. Kuhlig, a stunt pilot from Florida, was in town to perform at the Moody Gardens Air, Car and Boat.

STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News

SNI Photo of the MonthAdrian Campbell, 13, holds his hand over his heart during the national anthem as his horse, Sleepy, nibbles on stalks of grass before the pair competed in the Galveston County Fair & Rodeo Summer Series youth rodeo at the Galveston County Fairgrounds in Hitchcock on Thursday, June 30, 2022.

STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News

THANK YOU for taking the time to learn more about Southern Newspapers, Inc. Your interest in our company is very gratifying. This web site presents a quick look at SNI. It tells a bit about the people who run Southern and something about each of its newspaper properties. Before you read the details, however, it may be useful to give you an overview of the company's basic approach and philosophy.

Our Philosophy

Lissa Walls, Chief Executive Officer

Lissa Walls, CEO, has been in the newspaper business since 1980. She began her career as a reporter for the Rosenberg (Texas) Herald Coaster owned by Hartman Newspapers Inc. and became COO of SNI in 1985. She was elected CEO in March 2014. She serves on the board of PAGE Cooperative and is president of the Carmage and Martha Ann Walls Foundation. She is a past board member of The Associated Press, Mutual Insurance Company, Southern Newspapers Publishers Association, Southern Newspapers Publishers Association Foundation and UTMB Development Board. She is a trustee emerita of Trinity University. She was born in Guntersville, Alabama, and moved to the Houston, Texas, area with her family in 1973. She is a 1980 graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Dolph Tillotson, Chairman of the Board

Dolph Tillotson, chairman of the board, has been in the newspaper business since 1969. He began his career in news, and he has served as general manager, publisher and president for two community newspaper companies – Southern and Boone Newspapers, Inc. He is a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and a 1972 graduate of the University of Alabama. Tillotson lives in Galveston, Texas, with his wife, Teri. He came to work for Southern in 1987 as publisher of The Galveston County Daily News. He was named president of SNI in March 2014 and chairman in January 2020.

Leonard Woolsey, President

With more than 30 years in the newspaper industry, Woolsey joined Southern Newspapers in 2014 after working 20 years with Paxton Media Group serving as publisher and eventually group publisher. Besides serving in smaller communities, Woolsey's experiences also include managing properties in metro markets, including St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Atlanta. Woolsey is also a longtime Rotarian, board member for America’s Newspapers, Texas Press Association as well as local organizations including the Boys & Girls Club, and The Salvation Army. Woolsey is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and is married to his college sweetheart, Maryrine Woolsey. They have two adult children. In his spare time, he likes to read, write, travel, surf, and plink on a piano.

Ruby Barrow, Director of Accounting

Ruby Barrow, director of accounting/treasurer and secretary, has been in the newspaper business since 1992. Barrow began her career as a data entry clerk for Southern Newspapers, Inc. and has served as data entry supervisor, payroll manager, general ledger supervisor and accounting manager. She was elected secretary in March 2014. She serves on the boards of the Southern Newspapers Inc. Medical and 401(k) Plans. She was born in El Campo, Texas, and moved to the Houston area with her family in 1969. Barrow lives in Houston with her husband, Bart Barrow, and their three children.