By Staff
Do you ever have those days when things get so hectic you almost have to laugh at everything that goes wrong?
We had one of those days here in the office Thursday morning. Boy, it was not fun. Phones were ringing off the hook, everyone was so busy typing that we had no one to proof the pages right away – let's just say things got a little hectic.
For those of you that have never been in our office, let me explain as best as I can – it's all open! That was simple. Yes, we have desk after desk, no walls seperating anything, we are a news room, we all see everything, we all hear everything. We know who's dog is sick, who's aunt's grandma's dad's sister's daughter just had a baby, we know who baked the delicious cookies and who was up until the wee hours of the morning watching movies. We know when we someone is having a good day, and someone is having a bad day. Some days it's a lot of fun and we can get going on some funny conversations about local or national topics making the news. Other days, some of us wish we had the luxury of hiding away in a little office with piece and quiet.
No matter what the situation is, good or bad, we usually all come out of it laughing or can find a way to try to brighten someone's day.
We don't have a humungous staff here, so a lot of people take on double – even triple – duties. People don't realize the hard work that a lot of our staff members put in on a daily basis. All of the briefs in the calendar, the obituaries, letters to the editor, classified ads – these are all done by staff members whose names aren't plastered in the paper daily. They work just as hard – if not harder – than anyone else.
I have to give bonus points to our typist Sam Erwin. Sam is responsible for, well, pretty much everything in the newsroom. Her title only recognizes a small portion of what she actually does to help us get through our busy mornings.
She types obits, letters to the editor, culinary conversation, honor roll lists, birth announcments, weddings and engagements and other odds and ends that need to be typed. She also proof reads a lot of our papers daily and often deals with a lot of stressful phone calls, which she handles amazingly!
Thursday morning she was slammed with phone calls, was backed up in her typing and was basically racing against the clock to get everything done. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but after deadline I think she breathed a huge sigh of relief. I just want to thank you, Sam, for everything you do. Your hard work may seem to go unnoticed, but we all know what a huge help you have been and appreciate everything you do.
I also want to wish the best of luck to our reporter Andy Hamilton. Andy came to us just a short time ago and is leaving to take on new adventures. He's provided some great stories for our paper and works extrememly hard to make sure he can get in as much news as possible. He was a great addition to our staff and will be missed.
On to a sports subject, the spring sports season is about to kick-off in full gear and I am very excited. I'm ready to get outdoors and enjoy the nice weather.
I am not sure how many of you noticed, but we should have some very good teams this season. Both Niles and Buchanan were ranked in the latest preseason polls, while Brandywine received honorable mention. This will definitely set the stage for some serious compeition.
We're starting our preseason previews, so be looking for those to run quit often the next few weeks.
Have a great weekend!