Many of you know I write my column almost every week while sitting at home, working on the final design, listening to a meeting of some sort or another. Tonight, I write this while listening to a work session of the Nederland Board of Trustees and the Planning Commission about the preliminary PUD application by local developer Ron Mitchell. This plan has been a work in progress for decades. So I listen, and write, and listen (when I can because the sound isn’t working right).
This week I have had a bad cold. Like “stay home and not go anywhere” kind of cold. Not Covid (I’ve tested multiple times). But it’s knocked me down. This is not what I need this week. I’m pulling 14-hour days to get work caught up and close out a ton of year-end things. I finished filing all of what needed to be put into folders and have organized it carefully into the file cabinet. Whew, one task checked off my list.
I am so thankful to have so much help with the paper these days. I wanted to offer some of my gratitude this week.
I’m exceptionally thankful for our graphic designer, Joyce Robinson, for taking on the newspaper design. She completes about 80% of it before handing it back to me on Tuesday afternoon.
And I’m thankful to Sara Sandstrom and Lynn Hirshman, who truly take care of all of the editing to get the paper complete. Both of our editors have an incredible job, sorting through so many different works by so many journalists with different styles and levels of skill. And every week, they get it taken care of in time for your news to be finalized. Sara also manages our intern program, among many other tasks.
I’m beyond thankful that I don’t have to do much with the podcast, to make it happen. The podcast TEAM has grown a lot over the last year. Cynthia Davis grabbed the reins and ran with it. All these new podcasts about local news, history of the region, music, interviews, and more, are raising the bar on what we are creating for you. Thank you to Jamie Lammers, Dango Rose, and Marianne Rosen for their hard work on the podcast as well. We’re even adding to our podcast team (see article in this edition).
Beyond our above staff, I want to recognize some of the journalists you see in print every week: Omayra Acevedo, Christopher Kelley, Mindy Leary, and Wes Isenhart. Close to every week you see stories by John Scarffe and Dave Gibson. Every week you also see poetry by Alexander Joseph and pet of the week by Denise Boehler. Did you know dozens of dogs and cats have been adopted because of these weekly submissions, just in the last year? Yeah, like that.
Omayra Acevedo has also stepped in to take on content organization for special sections, as well as gathering stories and listings for each one. She organized our first-ever staff brainstorming meeting and keeps us all on track with special deadlines. It’s impossible to put into words how important this role is.
And we can’t forget the weekly work of our circulation team. Thank you Terri Vernon, Sarah Banker, Tanya Unger, Rick Rudstrom, and occasionally Doug Armitage still heads to the Ned office to complete labeling and distribution.
And Tanya, my goodness, you’re my left hand at this point. From web development, to automation of our processes, to organization of data, to digging deep to remedy old problems I simply haven’t found solutions for. You know more about the entire business than anyone else. You know all of the working pieces and parts that make it happen every week. Thank you.
This brings me to a huge thanks to Bethany Haas, our Marketing & Advertising Coordinator. Every week she is out there meeting with advertisers, finding out about upcoming events, sharing info about what we do and how we can help get the word out! She jumped into this position last summer and she has been in contact with hundreds of you for the newspaper and special sections, since then!
Thank you to Natalie Duplessy and Brittney Wagner for running the front desk at our Nederland office.
Big thanks to our interns and volunteers as well (look for several intern articles this week).
I can’t forget all of the other staff that make this paper happen each week. They’re all listed in this newspaper in our staff box. I wanted to recognize some of the people that contribute above and beyond, every week, every time. We couldn’t do it without you. All of you.
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