Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Something special was sparked during the Watermelon Festival Parade this past June. As members of our newspaper office walked the parade, handing out free Monticello News newspapers, Hometown Connection booklets and The Front Porch magazines, it seems we made an impression.
Nine-year-old Gideon Burrell attended the parade this past summer, and met members of our team as they walked along the streets handing out goodies. Upon receiving a three a three-month sample subscription to The Monticello News and the Jefferson County Journal at the parade, young Gideon soon discovered a love for his local newspaper. When each new edition came in the mail, Gideon would read the entire paper and share highlighted points with his family at dinner, paying close attention to his favorite sections, the sports and history pages.
Three months came and went, and soon, Gideon's sample subscription expired. Eager to continue his bi-weekly source of reading material, he asked his parents to get him an entire year's subscription for his birthday, which was October 13.
On Nov. 7, members of the Monticello News office were delighted to meet young Gideon, who is now 10 years old and the proud owner of an ECB Publishing subscription. This quite possibly makes him one of our youngest subscribers yet!
Gideon is an avid reader, and particularly enjoys reading about history. When he isn't reading, he likes to build with Legos and play football in his yard.
We eagerly await the possibility of submitted articles and editorials from Mr. Gideon in the future, and we were pleased to leave him with arms heaping with a variety of reading material this past Monday. The newspaper staff is touched at his appreciation for the work we do, and we look forward to any input that young Gideon can offer us. For now, when asked about ways we can improve, he has stated that he likes the newspaper exactly how it is.