During the past couple of weeks while I was transitioning from my job as the editor of the Othello Independent to my new position as editor of the Toppenish Review Independent, I spent a couple of days weeding in my good friend Fay’s garden.
Fay has had a couple of surgeries over the course of the past year and is still having trouble bending and kneeling for weeding and doing moderate gardening chores. Fay is a simply wonderful person and I feel honored to have her as a special buddy for the four–and-a-half years I lived in Othello. Life would most certainly be more pleasant and less stressful if the rest of us could adopt Fay’s amazing caring spirit and positive outlook on life. Fay is the marketing director of a local health care facility in Othello. She and I also sang in the choir at the local Lutheran Church, so we had both a personal and professional relationship.
Over the course of the two days of weeding and tending her garden, I was also able to reflect on my life and do some personal weeding and pruning.
I was born and raised on a dairy farm and have my share of weeding in the corn and bean patch stories. My two sisters, my brother and I all agreed early on that dairy life – while it set the tone for developing a solid work ethic, self-reliance and self-motivation – was not our chosen path.
When I was 10, my dad broke his leg during a farming accident. Fortunately, it was only a broken leg and not something more serious. He spent the summer conducting farming from a hospital bed in our living room. Somehow we managed to get 75 cows milked twice a day; cut, baled and stacked 100 acres of pea hay, irrigated and maintained 50 aces of pasture and 100 acres of field corn for silage.  The major glitch that summer was not ours. A hired man had problems spraying for weeds in a 35-acre patch of corn and we had to spend a week hand weeding the field.
As I was pulling weeds for Fay, I recalled the “corn field” incident. I remember it was hot and we didn’t like weeding very much, but we did enjoy the daily trek to Joyce’s Drive In, the nearby hamburger stand in Burlington were we ate burgers and milkshakes for lunch and had a large swirl cone at the end of the day.
Imagine my surprise when Fay showed up the first afternoon with ice cream treats.
While I was weeding in Fay’s garden, I was able to think about moving to the Yakima Valley and coming to work for this community’s newspaper.
The Review Independent is my third newspaper stint. I worked at the Quincy Valley Post-Register for 20 years before moving back to Othello were I graduated from high school and worked for four years at the Outlook and Independent.
I view my job newspaper at the Review Independent as being the “eyes and ears” for the folks here. What is unique about the Review Independent is that it encompasses five communities. That means getting to know five school boards, five city councils, five mayors, more than 20 elementary, middle and high schools with large staffs, several health care clinics, a hospital, and three chambers, not to mention more than 100 businesses that encompasses Wapato, Toppenish, Zillah, White Swan, Buena and Granger. Plus the numerous service clubs like Rotary and Lions, 4-H groups, Scouts, youth sports, church events, community theatre and more.
It seems a bit daunting, but with the quality, knowledgeable staff already in place, I am confident we will rise to the occasion.
I ask a little patience from you all as I learn your names, where you live, when you meet and what your needs are.
If you have an event or activity coming up, remember to call the Review Independent and let us know. We can’t always attend every single event, especially on Monday nights and early Tuesday when we are getting ready for press, but we will do our very best. And, while it is important to cover the “big” events like council meetings, school board, graduation and chamber activities, I believe the little things are important, too. You may have seen me in front of store buildings in Zillah and Toppenish this past week, jotting down information for upcoming events. I welcome your news briefs on community events. Sometimes, those small bits of information become larger feature stories.
A portion of my job will also be calling on local businesses for advertising, so I will be out on the street getting to know your businesses needs on both an editorial and advertising level.
Our publisher Mike Lindsey and I both believe in the concept of refrigerator journalism – our news articles, photos and ads hang on refrigerators throughout the Yakima Valley. It is our highest compliment.
I look forward to covering your events and your refrigerators, too. -RD