Just as an editor was feeling as if his newspaper sometimes gets taken for granted as a mass medium in a micro-media world, along came Fay Brown.

The passionate director of Foothills Alliance and two members of her staff pulled up in a van Wednesday to take three of us to Columbia for an awards luncheon.

Juxtaposition Day was dawning.

Judgment Day had arrived for Raymondeze Rivera. How apropos was that?

Just as the alleged killer of two young mothers awaited justice in an Anderson County courtroom, we read trial updates through the miracles of laptop computers, wireless cards and smart phones.

Just as lunch was beginning after the annual meeting for the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Rivera was taking the stand against his attorney’s advice and revealing himself as a hit man.

Rivera ultimately was the reason our publisher, Butch Hughes, our editorial page editor, Bonnie Williams, and I were at the luncheon. We were there to receive the media award.

Just as a jury was huddling to decide Rivera’s fate, we were called to accept our plaques. “Award Of Excellence,” mine read. “For His Exemplary Professional Efforts On Behalf Of Victims Of Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault, With Heartfelt Appreciation For His Dedicated And Compassionate Service.”

Aw, shucks, folks. What we did seemed so small. Plaques instead should have gone to the real heroes: Fay and her staff. A little more than a year ago, not long after the two slayings that shook our community, Fay talked to a reporter and later visited our editorial board to tell us about two free safety-training sessions that Foothills Alliance would be staging.

We immediately published a news story, announcing the plans for “Keeping Women Safe in an Unsafe World.” We followed that with an editorial and a few free ads. A story in our lifestyles section previewed the sessions, and we covered the first session as a news story.

Pretty routine stuff. How flattering and fulfilling it is to know that ordinary work is considered extraordinary by stakeholders. The sessions were well attended, and Fay suggested at the luncheon that the Anderson Independent-Mail had much to do with the success.

A secret had to be revealed. Fay is a former journalist. She knows how the system works. Her personal visit to the newspaper helped us recognize that her news was worthy of more than a brief on our HomeTowner page.

On the drive back to Anderson, we read about Rivera’s shocking testimony, then some of us got wrapped up talking about newspapering.

Just as I returned to the newsroom, I learned that the jury had deliberated for only 20 minutes before delivering a guilty verdict. Rivera was sentenced to life and awaits a second trial that could result in a death penalty.

What a day.