I’m from a small town in Northeast Indiana. The LaGrange Standard and News came out two times each week when I was growing up. Even as a youngster I enjoyed perusing through the paper. Mom said she liked looking at the obituaries to see if her name was in there. (At 97 she still repeats this little quip. Once she gets a laugh she doesn’t stop.)
Reading about and seeing the awards that our local newspaper accumulated recently, gave me a sense of pride and relief. The pride speaks for itself. The relief comes from a place of concern that as a senior citizen I see so many of the small pleasures and treasures of our way of life being slowly stripped from us. I am glad to see that my town’s newspaper has dug its heels in, in so to speak, in a time when the format of news delivery that I grew up with is evaporating along with so many other treasures from the good old days. Of course, we all know this is due to technology taking over more and more of our lives.
I look forward to opening my mailbox on Wednesdays and Fridays, putting my hand in and pulling out that black and white bundle with that old familiar newspaper smell. It’s like meeting an old friend on the street - the feeling it gives of ease and normalcy in a very chaotic and more and more unfamiliar world. I love seeing photos of familiar faces of friends from the community and their accomplishments. Also, I appreciate the reminders of dates and times of the various activities in the area. There is so much information in the various articles and opinion pieces. I didn’t know there were so many smart people living in and around Monticello.
So again, congratulations to ECB Publishing. Keep up the good work and don’t let technology steal our precious Monticello News, Jefferson Journal and Front Porch. I’ll keep looking at my newspapers each week. And I will let you know if I happen to see my name in the obituaries.
Robin Frutig