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Ruralite Cafe: Published 3/16/00

By Lynn Hotaling



Working for the paper is 'not that bad'

 By Lynn Hotaling - Associate Editor
While casting about for an inoffensive topic for this week, I grasped at every straw I could find. I managed to learn what a "skeeter hawk" is during a vain attempt to engage Frosty in some of that homespun humor for which he's renowned, but I'm not sure how to stretch that one tidbit about dragonflies into a whole column.

Other than determining that the only thing a cove and a holler have in common is a creek in the middle, I didn't get very far towards another chapter on local place names and lore, either.

So then I got to thinking about my favorite living syndicated columnist and my absolute favorite radio personality. What, I wondered, would Dave (Barry) and Garrison (Keillor) do if they were stuck here on Main Street and couldn't go home until the space was filled.

Dave is lucky in that he often gets inspiration from newspaper clippings people send him. I read a couple of newspapers today, trying my best to be an alert reader, but the only thing that caught my eye was a story about an animal rights group that's urging college students to drink beer instead of milk because they say dairy cows are mistreated.

Dave could probably have a field day with that one - he no doubt thinks beer fits into the recommended food pyramid. It has to be nutritious, right? It's made from grain. If would make those animal rights people happy, Dave would say, we can just substitue "brew" for "dairy" in those basic food groups.

Garrison, on the other hand, relies on more internal inspiration. He mostly talks about his hometown, Lake Wobegon, an imaginary place in Minnesota. He talks fondly of the folks that frequent the local cafe (sort of like how we feel about Frosty and Grandpa), grocery store and tavern. For years he's milked humor from his Norwegian, Lutheran heritage, which he describes as "dark." Things where he grew up generally were "not that bad," and the grown-ups always acted like he should be grateful for that, because, after all, things certainly could be worse.

And they would be right, at least from my point of view.

Here I sit, stuck though I may be, content in the knowledge that I have what I believe to be one of the best jobs in Jackson County.

While a newspaper can't please everyone always, what we do matters to a lot of people. Our readers, bless their hearts, actually come downtown on Wednesdays and wait for the paper to get back from Franklin.

On occasions when Eloise Stallings can't make it into town, I have the privilege of delivering some 125 Sylva Heralds to the Speedwell General Store.

People are waiting there, too. They come out to the car and help me unload the papers. Then they buy Heralds, two and three at a time, and head up the creek with the week's news.

Things we write about actually inspire our readers to write us back. They don't always say what we want to hear, but their letters help us stay in touch with the feelings in the community and keep us honest.

We're entering a new chapter in the way we interact with our readers. As we stake out our claim in cyberspace, we're struck by the emails we get from faraway places telling us of readers who've joined us online.

While I've worked in a hospital, in two different libraries and even at harvesting Christmas trees, I have never had a job with the satisfaction quotient of this one.

Every week, we're able to please a lot of people by sharing their news with the community. Interesting people call us up and tell us their stories. We're right up front to watch our local government in action. If it happens in our area, we usually know it.

Newspaper work is never boring because no two weeks are ever the same. But the best thing, for me, is the incredible satisfaction that comes every Wednesday when we put the paper to bed.

So would I trade places with Dave or Garrison? Nope.

I admire their humor, but as a native southerner, I'm too delicate for those Minnesota winters. And I'll take the skeeter hawks any day over that Miami wildlife Dave describes.

If we could only get the Cafe chef to find a holler and dig us some ramps, this place would be practically perfect.

Back to Archive: 03/16/00.