It’s great to have the paper back. It has a nice crisp, clean look and it just feels good to hold it in your hands. It looks a little different from what it did when I spent many long lonely hours at night trying to get the news of the week out. But I like the look and I like the feel of it.
I started working for the newspaper in May 1979. I had a weekly column called “People, Places, and Things” and reported on the happenings of the City Council and County Commission meetings. Time passed and responsibilities increased until I became the newspaper and the newspaper became me. That’s where you would find me, until I finally hung my hat up and officially retired on April 30, 2015. A lot of years.
No one expected it to stay closed when the owners locked the door last March, shortly after the first case of the coronavirus was reported in West Virginia. After all, the president said it would disappear in the summer and he had the top scientific minds and world health organizations at his fingertips. The thought, at the time, was to reopen the end of June or July. A three- to four-month shutdown. Subscribers would have their subscriptions advanced to cover the missing months and the paper would go on. But it didn’t disappear like the president said—it got worse.
It looked awfully bleak for the newspaper, as each month drug on, and you never really realize how much you miss something until it’s gone. But, as far as the newspaper is concerned, that’s behind us and the new owners will be providing us with dependable, trustworthy, up-to-date news coverage and the finest and most reliable advertising medium for readers in the Summers County area. We can rejoice at that.
I’ve been making refunds to the previous subscribers and by the time you read this most of you would have received a check. These refunds have been going to the person receiving the paper. In some cases, the subscription was a Christmas or a birthday gift so if you bought a subscription for someone you might want to check with them to find out if they have received a refund. I expect to be finished with this soon so if you haven’t received a check be patient, every subscriber will be getting a refund. And, just so you’ll know, I’ll be glad when I’m finished.
I’m sitting in my little office at the house typing this. That’s where I am most of the time. Since the Coronavirus hit West Virginia I haven’t been out much and when I do go out I have my mask. We, in Summers County, have been lucky with no deaths while over 209,000, as of this writing, have died after being exposed to this deadly disease. It’s hard to wrap your head around this number, a number dwarfed by the number that have been quarantined and hospitalized all the way from the humblest household to the White House. The virus is not a respecter of persons and in a crisis situation we need to respect the advice from the health professionals.
If we have been paying any attention at all, we know what that advice has been.
