Saturday, August 27, 2011

The path of Irene .....

Irene has hit the East Coast. We've had our television on the Weather Channel all morning and it's pretty darned windy. Poor Mike Bettis is about to be blown away on that beach he's trying to stand on. The damage reports are already coming in, and they've announced a death already too.

What amazes me is the live shots of New York City. At 10:30 am, Times Square looks like any other day. Big screen TV's still on, people wandering everywhere. And 90 minutes until just about every form of transportation ceases in the city. It's kind of irritating to see that some people just didn't get the grasp of Katrina when it tore through New Orleans. It's just taxing on all of the rescue workers to have to worry about tourists wandering the streets.

Since I'm such a weather geek, I've watched the "What Would Happen" episode's that involve New York City. The wind is going to be incredible, if it hits like they say it will. I couldn't - for the life of me - imagine being in that city when it hits.

Sure, it's a pain to have to pack up and head West. It's costly too. But what cost is your life? I mean, come on .... I'd jump in my car and drive if I knew that a hurricane was headed my way. I say that, though, yet I have never headed for a basement yet when a tornado siren goes off, so what exactly would I do? Judge not.......

My family went through a 204 mph typhoon in the early 1960's, and I'm guessing my parents didn't have much choice then but to hunker down and wait for it to blow over. I have several memories of that happening to us, even though I was very young. There were lots and lots of people at our house. Apparently we had the largest house at the time, so all the air force wives brought their kids and hunkered down with my mom, sister and myself.

I remember the bricks flying through the window in the room where all of us kids were sleeping. We had been upstairs sleeping and all the moms came up and got us and brought us down into the living room. I remember the confusion, so it must have happened pretty quick. I don't really remember the brick that came through the window and hit my mom, breaking her back. But I do remember the ambulance driver closing her hand in the ambulance door as they took her away.

He wasn't really an ambulance driver - just someone they 'recruited' at the hospital because they ran out of drivers. But they managed to get her to the hospital, just as the roof was blowing off. I never do remember going to see my mom in the hospital though. My next memory would be the next morning, after the winds had died down. Us kids were allowed to go outside, and the street crews were on our street tying all the trees back up. Every single tree was laying on the ground with the roots sticking up. The road crews were picking them up and tying ropes to them so they would stand.

It was the most wind I've ever encountered, although one time at the C2H2 Farm we had a pretty good wind come through. It was enough to send me to dad's porch .... but not the basement.

So, heck, I guess if I was in the path of Irene .... I guess I can't say what I'd do. But, I know one thing I would do, the same thing I'll do from our little farm here in Kentucky. And that's pray. Pray that loss of life and loss of property is at a minimum by the end of Sunday, when Irene should be just a bad rainstorm......

Have a great weekend everyone. And if you've got a spare minute, you might say a prayer for those in the path of the storm too.

Pam

Thursday, August 25, 2011

I love building ads ..... even the pasted up ones of years ago!

I've been building ads of some kind since 1983. And I love it. When I started in the newspaper business years ago, I typeset everything on this monstrous machine that only showed you about three or four words before it 'returned' and you couldn't see them anymore. After you were done typing everything, you had to take the 'film' into the dark room and process it. It came out on something called a galley, which was essentially a piece of white film that had the type on them. You then had to read it all and if you made a mistake you had to re-typset the line that had the error and PASTE IT ON. Yes, ancient times........

From there I learned to typeset using a Mac computer. On one of the smallest screens ever made, about six inches across. It was a good thing I was much younger, as my eyesight was way better then. I remember learning to use the mouse to do things. It was quite exciting, although scary at the same time. But, this step up meant we no longer had to process film, everything came out of the printer. And we could actually do fancy things back then. Like add a border, ha ha ha. You see, before computers we had to border the pictures with border tape. It was really quite the process to lay out pages before computers.

My - how things have changed. Like everything else, time (and computers) have about eliminated an entire generation that knew how to 'paste up pages'. Using a waxer and an exacto knife. I've still got my very first knife, although it's about worn out. It's not used much anymore. And the good old wax machine. Goodness knows how many items of clothing I ruined over the years getting wax on them.

Ad building back then was very basic. It took alot of time to put type across a picture back then. You literally had to cut the type out of film and position it across the picture. Now you just click your mouse, create a text box, add color and outlines, and place it over the picture. Which I have placed on a page - in one file that holds the entire publication - which will be sent to Dayton, Ohio to print over the internet.

I can recall many times driving from Orofino, Idaho up the Lewiston Hill to Moscow to have the Clearwater Tribune printed. It didn't matter if it was snowing, raining, sleeting .... Miss Cloann was in the van and delivering those pages up the mountain. I enjoyed going with her when time allowed. If I didn't make the trip with her, I was waiting for her return so we could bundle them all for the post office. Sometimes into the wee hours of a Wednesday night, so they could go out early the next morning. Jenni was little then and she would sit in the middle of the table and hold her fingers on the twine so we could tie the knots. She would be in her little footed pj's ... just having the time of her life.

She learned the life of a newspaper person early on. She knew full well what 'deadline' meant for me. I might be home in one hour - or four hours. On days leading up to deadline, if I had a real load of work, she might not see me much for a couple of days. Not the best way to raise a kidlet, but hey, someone had to do it! And I had a fabulous sitter back then too.....

I guess that's one thing that hasn't changed in this industry. A deadline. On deadline week, the Dave person might not see much of me for a couple of days. I'm real good at working overnight during the last two or three days before sending the magazine off. He doesn't handle the whole deadline thing as well as I do. But, hey, he was the pressman when we met - and he always knew I never missed one, so he should be used to my methods.......

Have a great day everyone. Keep those on the East Coast in your prayers, and pray that Irene weakens as it heads north. We don't need another catastrophe to hit our country!

I'm off to build some ads .... for all of our wonderful advertisers that continue to allow us to publish All Things Country each and every month. Love it!

Pam

Friday, August 19, 2011

Farmer Banker Field Day in Powell County ....

This afternoon/evening is the yearly Farmer Banker Field Day in Powell County. Dave and I have attended this for the past four or five years and it's sure alot of fun. Lots of people come out to tour the farm it's held at each year, so it's extra special to be able to visit with people from the community.

This year's event will be held at the Red River Farm in Stanton. Festivities begin at 5p.m. Mike Reed of the UK Extension Service in Powell County does a wonderful job coordinating this event each year, and we rarely get the chance to even see him at it because he's running every which way. His office should be commended for their hard work, along with Whitaker Bank of Stanton for sponsoring it.

Red River Ranch - the farm of Mr. Glen Salyer - is located at the end of Maple Street in Stanton and everyone is encouraged to attend. There will be farm wagon tours, demonstrations and programs for ladies and youth.

Have a great Friday everyone!
Pam


Monday, August 15, 2011

A wonderful morning, spent with wonderful people

This morning was the Estill County Chamber of Commerce BREW get-together. BREW stands for Business Roundtable for Estill Women - and we sure have a fun time at these get togethers, or at least I do! Today's breakfast was graciously hosted by Barbara Napier at Snug Hollow Bed and Breakfast. What a treat.

I had never been to Snug Hollow, so it was even more of a treat for me. My sister Roben joined us this morning, so we both got to explore that treasure together this morning. Very impressive. If you have never been to Snug Hollow, I encourage you to do so. It's so pretty up there, and I'm sure even prettier in the evenings. I told Barbara that I would probably never go to town if I lived there. I guess that's probably why I seldom see her in town.

It doesn't help that I try to leave the farm as little as possible as it is. It's so relaxing, living in the country. It's not for everyone, I know that. But, it's sure for me. Whenever we head into Lexington, which is rarely, I just look at all the houses built on top of each other, with very small yards. I just couldn't do it again. I've lived in my share of big cities ... Woodbridge, Virginia; Salem, Oregon; Boise, Idaho. And I enjoyed that type of life at the time, it's just the last 10 years or so that I've adapted to country life.

I've never been one to stick on one place too long. Growing up in the military gave me a love of traveling, so I just never figured I'd stay in any one place very long. My longest stint in one town was probably Orofino, Idaho - and had a career change not taken me out of Clearwater County I might still be there. That is, until that fateful visit to dad's farm here in Estill County during the summer of 2002. I literally called Dave back in Idaho and told him to pack the truck. I flew home and we drove back out here. He must have had faith in me, because he came to Kentucky with me even though he'd never been to Estill County. He had no clue where I was moving him......

He must enjoy it, because we haven't went back to Idaho yet. And I must enjoy it too, because we actually bought property here. Guess we'll just stay a while :-).

Have a great day everyone! Be kind to someone and it'll give you much more joy than you give.

Pam

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Networking .... Love it!

It's been a long few days here at All Things Country. The Dave person has been working away at Ravenna Florist and Greenhouse, helping the crew tear down the old greenhouse ..... which has left me handling errands in town, attending meetings, handing out copies of All Things Country Magazine. Not to mention chores at the farm, weeding, harvesting veggies. Whew.....

I must say though, I'm so refreshed today and ready to blast through another day. It's been an incredible couple of days networking with other business owners in the area. I love it too. You see, I live in Estill County, but I'm not 'from here.' I don't hold the same love of the county -exclusively- that others that have been born and raised here do. I love Powell County and Carter County and Montgomery County just as much as I do Estill County. It's because I love all of Kentucky.

At the Chamber Luncheon this week, it was awesome to connect with Ethan and Katie Moore from WSKV in Powell County. We have worked pretty closely with them for the past several years and would do anything to help them out, as they would with us. This is how is should work. We're all striving for the same thing. To keep businesses IN our small communities. It's a struggle. Not just here - everywhere.

Since we started All Things Country, the crew at WSKV is the ONLY other news outlet that has ever promoted us in any way. And we are in the same business basically .... selling advertising to all these same businesses. It means alot to us that Ethan and the rest of the crew over there wants us to succeed just as much as they want to succeed - and vice versa. Ethan spoke at the luncheon about not putting all your [advertising] eggs in one basket. Alot of the same advertisers on the radio also advertise in All Things Country. Thankfully most don't choose one of us over the other.

At another function this week, the Kiwanis Club from Lee County came down to join us at our Kiwanis Club meeting. It was another nice connection. We learned some about their park at Happy Top, I'm anxious to go check it out on our next trip up to Beattyville. Their club struggles, the same as ours. With fundraising. The Irvine/Ravenna Kiwanis Club's annual auction is fast approaching and fundraising for that is going to be a priority over the next month or so. The money raised goes to help out with children's projects supported by Kiwanis. That's the main reason we joined Kiwanis - to help out with children in our community.

Maybe I'm most refreshed by our Old Time Camp Meeting at church last night though. It's was awesome. I'm almost giddy to go back tonight. What fun! And the message last night - amazing. Can't wait for tonight's message. Even more 'networking' was done last night. I had no idea that I've been greeting Jeanette King's daughter for the past few months at church, but Jeanette was there last night and that connection was made. Love it......

And love all of you out there in our neighboring counties too. Have a blessed day each and every one!
Pam

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Lots going on in Estill County the next few days .....

We just got home from the Irvine-Ravenna Kiwanis meeting, down at the Cedar Village. Had a very enjoyable dinner, with a great group of people. There were quite a few people here from the Lee County Kiwanis Club, it was great to see the room full! The principal from West Irvine Elementary School was our speaker and spoke very highly of the new position she has taken as principal. I look forward to doing an interview with her in the near future for the magazine. It really sounds like the new building is going to be a great addition for the entire community, not just the students. The Irvine-Ravenna Kiwanis Club meets each Thursday at 6pm at the Cedar Village. Myra Finney is the President of the group and does a wonderful job.

Tomorrow is the Estill County Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Luncheon, where Business of the Quarter will be announced. Three very good businesses were nominated, so it will be great to see who was voted as the winner. WSKV 104.9FM is hosting the luncheon and we welcome them as newer members to the Chamber. Ethan and Katie Moore (and Mary and AC too) do a great job, not only at the radio station, but in the community too.

The annual Hospice Benefit at the Verlon Prewitt home is Saturday. Dave and I have to miss it this year, which bums me right out. My grandma Alice was a long-time hospice volunteer and I try to be as involved in our local auction as possible. But another function we must be at has coincided with the Hospice event and we can't be at two places at once. Although that would be nice at times.

Wisemantown United Methodist Church is having their Old Time Camp Meeting Revival Friday and Saturday night at 7pm each evening. Ray Snider, former pastor of the church, will be delivering the message. Everyone is invited.

Estill County Youth Soccer sign-ups are this weekend too. Friday from 6-8pm and Saturday from 11-1. Questions can be answered by calling Staci Owens at 726-9686.

Monday is BREW - Business Roundtable for Estill Women. This time we are meeting at Snug Hollow, owned by Barbara Napier. It should be a fun time and I'm particularly excited because I've never been there! If you have any questions about BREW, Barb Chrisman at Silo Mill Gift Shop would be the person to call! She does an excellent job coordinating this event for the Chamber of Commerce.

In between some of the above events, I think I'll try to get some gardening done ......

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

With the debut of our new magazine ... we've added a blog too!

The August edition of All Things Country Magazine debuted our biggest change to the publication since we started in June of 2006. It's now an 'official' magazine, in my opinion anyway! The magazine is now printed on a sheet-fed press, which allows more precision with artwork - and an overall better look. We'll get a few glitches with type worked out with our September book, other than that I was very pleased with how it turned out.

I've worked in graphic design since 1983, so I'm pretty comfortable with building ads and such. But I've always done it for a web press, which is a whole different process than a sheet-fed press. I have more freedom to be a bit creative with the new printers. It's giving me all kinds of ideas for pages now :-)

We made this switch for a variety of reasons. I know that several of our advertisers are worried about our prices raising. The truth of the matter is, they were going to raise anyway. Not drastically, but some. We've never really had a big price increase since we started, yet the price of gas has doubled, the price of paper and ink has raised, the economy has prevented some businesses from advertising at all. And, yet, we still want to keep our magazine free.

So, we decided to meet everyone half way. Yes, prices are increasing somewhat - but you are getting a much better product for your money too. We didn't feel we could raise prices with the quality of a web-press magazine, but the new look justifies it. We hope to continue to be able to bring you All Things Country free of charge for years to come!

Some people tell us that they don't have anything to advertise, but they still would like to have the magazine each month in their business. We ask that you consider running a business directory ad, which gives your contact information, much like a phone book. Your customers will appreciate you for it! And we would appreciate the support.

I started this magazine because I spent too many years in the newspaper industry - spreading bad news around. And I want to spread good news around. There is good in this world. There really is. You think about your local newspaper ...... and think of this scenario: you have two business people in a small community. One of these business owners goes out of his way to help when asked. He helps out at the food bank, volunteers at his church, gives to the needy. This business-person's next door neighbor is kind of a shady character. His business is run shoddily, when it's even open. And the traffic in and out - you just know something isn't right. And then, bam - he gets arrested for something. Which one of these business-people will have their picture and story on the front page of your local paper? You can bet it isn't the one who does good for your community.

Dave and I moved here in 2002. We knew two people in Estill County when we moved here. My dad and one of my cousins, Carol Ann. As many of you know (or at least those that read ATC), living in Kentucky was my dream for many years. But, it's very scary moving to a new place. We weren't sure where to shop, the good deals, the best places to eat. And it didn't seem like you could find out much through any of the local papers. So, for several years, my mind kept churning on what I wanted to do and how it would involve tourism. I have always loved to travel - and I had this whole new state to explore! Lots of new shops, new parks, rivers, mountains ... and we want to share them all with you!

So, we'll keep on keeping on .... and hope you enjoy the ride along with us.

I hope you enjoy my ramblings .... they'll be a daily fixture from here on out - or until you guys all tell me to shut up :-)

Have an awesome day - and spread a little good news.
Pam