Jill's Jounal: You missed us, and we took notice

After taking a week off from publishing the Brandon Valley Journal last week, on my first day back in the editor’s chair, it didn’t take long for me to realize that our readers look forward to their hometown weekly newspaper showing up in their mailbox. 

And here’s how I know: The barrage of phone calls, emails, texts and even in-person visits to the Journal office. But the inquiries weren’t just one day. It was the next day, and the next day, over the weekend, at church, in the grocery store, and then again on Monday and Tuesday of this week, the calls and drop-ins continued.

So, it should be fair to surmise, “You missed us!”

That, dear readers, makes me smile, especially in an era when some believe that “print” is “dead.” But it certainly is not, at least not in the world of community weekly newspapers. After all, who else is going to tell our story? Or document our town’s history or the big win on Friday night? 

No one else is, with the exception of social media, which may or may not show up as we scroll through the pages.

As we near the start of our ninth year of publication next month, I decided to give myself and the staff a well-earned break from the weekly grind, hence the absence of a July 9 issue. By law, publications such as the Journal, must print a minimum 50 issues per year to maintain their legal newspaper status. Although I’ve been aware of this since launching the Brandon Valley Journal in August of 2017, I’d never considered giving it a try, that is, until now. I learned through my affiliation as a second-year member of the South Dakota NewsMedia Association Board of Directors that many weekly newspapers throughout the state choose to not publish a week or two during the calendar year. Most opt to shut off the press around the Fourth of July and the last week of December, as both weeks are routinely slower for news content and advertising.

Although it felt a bit odd to have a string of days to do whatever I wanted to do, I thoroughly enjoyed this break in the action. My “battery” has certainly been recharged and has me ready to keep the presses rolling as we tell “our” story in the weeks to come.

So, readers, thanks for understanding and letting us know, “You missed us!” 

Things to think about …

• What if dogs only bring back balls because they think humans like throwing it?

• If poison is past its expiry date, is it more poisonous or is it no longer poisonous?

• Which letter is silent in the word “scent,” the S or the C?

• Do twins ever realize that one of them is unplanned?

• Why is the letter ‘W’ in English, called double ‘U’? Shouldn’t it be called ‘double v’?

• Maybe oxygen is slowly killing you and it just takes 75-100 years to fully work.

• Every time you clean something, you just make something else dirty.

• The word “swims” upside-down is still “swims.”