Remembering how it all started and dealing with the cold

​       It was a cold, wet Saturday morning in mid-September 1997. I had turned off Highway 63 and was headed north on Iowa 149 through a detour toward Delta.
         Iowa 149 goes through Sigourney and then North English, but was detoured through Delta due to road work.
        As the rain pelted on my windshield and the swishing sounds of my wiper blades rubbing across the glass rang in my ears, my mind took a few moments to reflect on my decision to apply for a newspaper job in Iowa with Marengo Publishing Company. MPC was owners of newspapers in North English, Williamsburg, Marengo, Montezuma, Brooklyn, Belle Plaine and another paper in southern Benton County.
        I had learned about the company though my photojournalism instructor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He knew a fellow at MPC who earned his master’s degree at MU and knew that I was considering working for a small town newspaper.
        As I tooled along, the Iowa Hawkeyes were playing football on the radio. I had finished my coursework at MU, but still had a couple incompletes to wrap up before receiving my degree. 
        As I tooled along in my Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck, I was thinking about the weather and the crazy idea of living north of Missouri in Iowa.
        I interviewed for the editor’s position at the Williamsburg Journal-Tribune on the first visit, but didn’t get the job. It would be three months later in December 1997 when Alan Sieve with MPC, who I interviewed with in September, would come calling with another job offer.
       He had a position at the North English Record and was looking for an editor. He liked me, but was a bit unsure about my lack of experience in reporting on such things as the school board and city council.
       At MU, I spent a summer semester working the news desk at the Columbia Missourian, a student-ran daily newspaper that gives journalism students an opportunity for on-the-job training. The editors at the Missourian are students earning their master’s and Ph.Ds. 
        My focus at the Missourian was covering the rural areas and writing feature stories. I didn’t cover local politics and education. I was more interesting in cover agriculture and rural areas.
        When Alan called the second time, I was on the road with my brother in his 18-wheeler. He was driving for Mayflower Van Lines. We had picked up a load of furniture in Detroit and was headed for Tulsa when Alan called.
        I stopped at the Landmark in Williamsburg and was interviewed for the North English job in the back seat of a Ford Focus. I landed the job a week later on Christmas Eve and began working for the Record on Dec. 29.
         When asked during the interview if I had any concerns, I touched on the snow and cold.
       I dove right into my job at the Record and remember my first school board meeting in January 1998. I remember sitting in my pickup in the school parking lot praying and asking God to guide me. The board meeting lasted until after midnight.
        My lack of experience gave me the desire to learn beyond college. It was my job and I was going to make the best of it. And in the process, I made many friends and connections and raised the subscription and store copy sales of the Record greatly.
        Iowa is a beautiful state and I met my lovely bride at the Iowa State Fair.
       Now that I have lived in Iowa for just more than 27 years, I still don’t like the winter weather. And I sure don’t care for the snow.
      I’ve endured the Iowa Vortex a half of dozen years ago when temperatures reached -22 degrees below zero and windchills where in the deep freeze. And just this last week, temperatures dropped to -10 with cold windchills.
        It didn’t take me long to learn the importance of wearing multiple layers of clothing to stay warm.
      The cold leads to schools starting late, canceling ball games and even companies shutting down early or closing due to the weather.
      That’s too cold for this southern boy. It got below zero in Tulsa on occasion and we had some terrible snow and ice storms that shut the town down for days at a time. There were no plows in Oklahoma, at least when I was growing up, so the snow and ice melted during the day and refroze during the nighttime. 
       I took many spills on the ice and remember on occasion pulling my sled piled with newspapers through my customers’ yards to deliver the daily news.
        I’m glad to be in Iowa, still delivering the news. As for the cold weather and snow, it can stay to the north. And spring is just around the corner and so are good things to come.
       Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.