As the Star Herald publishes in its 130th year, it’s a nice time to pat ourselves on the back. We’re a great community newspaper and bring home awards from the state contest nearly every year. That said, some people might just as soon use our pages as fish wrap as congratulate us on a job well done.It’s the kind of business that people don’t always revere, but you’d miss us if we weren’t here.People who regularly read this paper know that we try to keep the community connected by sharing important news with them. We strive to cover the local courts and school, city and county governments thoroughly. We go to meetings so people who weren’t there can read what the discussion was about. We have the purpose of keeping public information in the public eye. We hope you appreciate our efforts, but that’s not all that we do. The so-called "important" things we do aren’t all that makes this paper a vital community member. Obituaries, for example, are catalogs of people’s lives and our local Historical Society keeps them all on file for future research projects. Our obituaries are published for free, which is increasingly rare in the news business. Other things we do that might be missed if we didn’t do them is print upcoming community events, engagements and weddings, anniversary announcements and birthday card showers, all for free. We print the graduation lists from area colleges and universities and we take pictures of local school events. We connect you with others through their contributions to the paper. These are people who you might not otherwise get the chance to know: columns from the pastors, Carole Achterhof, Glenda Bremer, and Betty Mann; and all the people who keep us thinking through their letters to the editor.We cover fun things, and meet lots of fine people. The Star Herald is about much more than government meetings.I hope this newspaper will be here for another 130 years to keep the community connected. Maybe we’ll even persuade some skeptics to use it for their scrapbooks instead of lining for bird cages.
