06/30/03’s illustrious band:

Big News

Brought to you by the Belle Fourche Post, my hometown newspaper. No, it was not the Post that inspired me to become a journalist -- but it’s done wonders for my crotchety English teacher tendencies.

The Post has been a source of as much amusement as news for as long as I’ve been able to read it. Like many small-town papers, it’s published on a shoestring budget by people with more enthusiasm than journalism training, in an area that produces more crop reports than crime reports. Not exactly the New York Times, but then again, it’s not exactly serving a New York audience, either.

People in Post photos are routinely misidentified -- even though the person who took the picture probably knew everyone in it personally -- if you can tell who they are at all through the blurring. But that’s OK, because most readers were probably at the event themselves and remember perfectly who was doing what.

Facts are sometimes a bit murky as well. Getting your name in the paper is still a big deal, but don’t be surprised if it’s misspelled and you’re reported as having done something you didn’t. But that’s OK, too, because if someone wants to know what really happened, they’ll just ask their neighbors. Or read the social notes page, which tell who went to visit whom over which holidays, how these people are related to other city residents, and sometimes what they had to eat. Readers of the Post think of it as a starting point for newsgathering, not an end point.

And don’t be surprised if the proofreader (I’m sure they have a proofreader) misses a dropped letter “l” in “public,” leaving you to contemplate a whole new kind of library. That was my Dad’s favorite Post typo, not just because it’s funny, but because it usually crops up a couple times a year.

My favorite Post story dates back to the Belle Bucks fiasco, which occurred when I was in junior high or high school. It’s every publisher’s nightmare. To encourage people to shop in Belle Fourche, downtown merchants were issuing Belle Bucks, coupons that could be used for discounts on merchandise purchased from participating retailers. But somehow, in a grand, full-page ad for the program, the “B” in Bucks got replaced by a different consonant that had parents scrambling to hide the paper before the kids got up. Oops!

The big news this week: There’s a new ATM in town! You know you’re in Mayberry when there’s enough excitement about a new cash machine to warrant not only an announcement, but also a photo. Oh, and they just got central air installed at the community hall, too.

Actually, I’m glad these are the hottest topics on anyone’s mind right now. Means there’s not much to worry about today. And that’s what small-town living is all about.

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