First impressions!

With this effort, I humbly join the ranks of the blogging industry!! It is something I have considered doing for several years, since my retirement from the newspaper industry in 2007. It was an industry that changed immensely from my paper boy days in junior high, and even from the time I joined the staff of the Huron Daily Plainsman in Huron, S.D. as a stringer in the late 1960s.

From the time I first took in the sights and smells of the newsroom, I was hooked, if not proficient at what I was doing. I learned at the feet of Roger Kasa, the "real newspaperman" in my life and an early mentor. Roger gave me a shot, taught me right from wrong, and the rest is a career! I can recall being sports editor in 1972 at Huron when I lost both contact lenses while taking a team photo of the '72 Tigers. Believe it or not, team members were on their hands and knees looking for my lenses! I was only 20 years old at the time --- just slightly older than the players in high school --- and in the first year, helped name one of my good friends to the All-Eastern South Dakota Conference all-league team. I was easily the youngest in the fraternity of ESD sports editors, rubbing elbows with the likes of John Egan at the Argus, Ron Lentz at Watertown and Hod Nielsen of Yankton. From the start, I loved the idea of covering games and interviewing players and coaches. As the years went by at Huron, I once played in and covered a baseball game at the same time.

I displayed little aptitude for newspaper work in high school. My acquaintences at Huron High School would likely remember me as a singer (not a top-notch student!) my one claim to fame. In a class of more than 300, it was tough to stake your claim, but I remember only good things about high school. I think all of us forever will remain in memory as we appeared in high school yearbooks. But how all of us have changed! In the 40 years since high school graduation, life has occurred. We have married, had children and lived our dreams and careers. We have suffered sorrows that we never anticipated as teenagers. Most of us have lost the parents and other family who nurtured us through those years, and even lost contact with the friends we cruised Dakota Ave. with. But I believe we have held each other in high regard as we have matured, even if we have lost touch with each other along the way. It's a beautiful thing to reconnect with friends, even though you may look older and different than you did in 1968-70. (Saying that, I missed the high school class 40-year reunion Aug. 13-14.)

I don't know where this blog will go but I hope to delve into a number of subjects, to somehow make a difference. One of the tough things about retirement is that it is such a dramatic change. For more than 35 years, I worked for the public as a newspaper editor, but I have received a different sort of satisfaction from my last two jobs: working with veterans at the Sioux Falls VA Hospital, and now, working with the public at a library in Greeley, Colo. I love the idea of sorting out a problem to help someone, and when it all works, it gave me more satisfaction than cracking a big story. Now I have decided to try writing as a hobby again.

On this blog, you can expect to read my wicked humor, see my photography, learn about my family and about other subjects of the day. I also hope to dedicate some of this blog to the memories (with photos) of Huron, S.D. and Huron High School/Huron College. It may be painful ...