News : Vinton Today turns 14

The last 14 years have been a ride for sure! In the three months before Vinton Today went live, I can remember thinking, quite a few things. There was a desire to create something that would be able to get word out quickly to the town, yet do it in a way that could reach everyone. FREE.

My job at the time was to reach out to organizations and build connections for future news, compile information for local organizations and to touch base with everyone. I loved it.

I had worked at two newspapers before. The first one involved a lot of stress and gave a great example of how NOT to do it. The second was the launching pad for Vinton Today. It built the idea of covering local news, well, locally. There was no boss in another state breathing down our neck. There was no second boss in another town telling us how to cover a story. No sales rep came in from another town, we were all local.

I have to admit, I do miss Mary. The laughs we shared, were fun to have, and the creativity she had was great to observe. I learned my ad design education from her.

The last several years have added to my layers of learning. While I had a pretty good understanding of how government works, I learned much more about the different functions and responsibilities of the various departments.

While some people might feel intimidated or lost in the arena of government, I feel at home there. I love watching all of the players and the accomplishments they make for all of us. I love watching the various departments present in front of the city and county. It's a great way to get a feel of what's happening around us.

Much to their chagrin, I call it when I see something that I feel doesn't pass the sniff test. And probably, I don't give them more credit when they do everything right 99% of the time.

I remember being asked after I wrote the first "big" article where I had gone to college to be a journalist. I was "home" schooled on that. Probably learning much more that way, than I'd learn in any journalism class. I read the stories but knew the background of the stories. While I walked into this job very unsure, I had the background to do it.

I had the sweetest call a couple of weeks ago. "You guys do a great job of letting us know what's happening in Vinton. Tell your staff thank you." So I sat, Me, Myself and I down and passed along the message. Then we all just grinned at each other and admitted that we had everyone fooled into thinking that we had to rent a room for our annual Christmas work parties.

It seems like there is a theme in my life, and that is, doing things the best I can and then acting like, "It's no big deal." I remember driving all around the county from early in the morning until dark taking hundreds of pictures from the derecho. To do that, I had to work late into the night the day before and to put stories on the site for the daily email. I knew I could check my phone as I traveled the next day, but working that way was a pain.

The only comment I remember is, "Why didn't you cover OUR town?" So after working again late into the night for the next day's edition, I hopped in the car the next morning, to cover that little town that I had missed, and I was upset for missing them the day before.

This week was spent in so many different directions. This job is not a one-topic job. I used to try to plan my day, and then I realized that I might as well give up on that. There was a day last week that I ended my day at about 6:00 p.m. thinking I was done working, only to get another message which meant I was back on the computer.

The relationships you build in this job are some of the very best. I cherish the long distance friendships. The reach of this website has reached people all across the country. The readers of Vinton Today follow the website locally for news, and those outside the county line watc what's happening because they are connected to Vinton. Several lived here years ago and remember Vinton fondly. I love catching up with all of these people. Some of these silly people move to warmer climates.

Last week there was one day that I had several avenues of conversation open. Text, Facebook and email all buzzing at the same time. It was funny to me because I felt like the gal at the switchboard again. Opening all of the various sources of conversations, and answering a variety of questions. Each was on a different topic about Vinton and kept me thinking in about five different directions. I usually get a note once a week from a retired military guy who is now an officer in one part of the country with roots in Vinton, and on one side of the political aisle, and on the other side of the country, there is another guy a few decades older that with the same description but on the other side of the aisle. Both of these guys make me laugh, but they connect with me because Vinton Today.

There are ladies that I've met through Vinton Today who also make me smile. One on the East Coast who survived a nasty bout with COVID and is still recovering, and then another gal not too far from here, yet keeps an eye on Vinton. There are sporadic connections made because of Vinton through the years, and those are some of the best times.

I used to work in a Chamber of Commerce office and this job reminds me a lot of that one. I get to talk to all kinds of people, in all stages of life. People in a variety of positions and it's always fun.

The folks in the community, and those connected to Vinton, are all a large family. While we don't all share DNA, although, I bet more of us do than not, there is something about this little town and county that is special in the hearts of so many. I'm happy to be a small part of that.

Thanks to everyone from the dreamer upper of this website, to the "making it possible to even-be-here and keeping-us-here" guy. Then there are the many advertisers that say, "Let me help you keep this free for ANYONE to find" to the readers who have pushed the viewing of the site to 33,217,205 you are amazing. This is story number 37,867+ and that's not even the real total there were a few thousands that were lost on Word Press.

A special thank you to all of the people in the many, many areas that send in their news to be shared, thank you for keeping everything in the loop!

14 years online, beginning at a time when this was unheard of. Now there are all kinds of independent news people out there via the internet. Vinton Today was on the cutting edge of taking reporting back to the people.

Thank you to everyone who has made this impossible idea a reality. Thank you to the men and women who make this little spot on the map a great place to be.

And now we're officially off to year 15! Thank you everyone for being your awesome selves!