Follow-up columns for me after the loss of someone who was a big influence on my personal career, or personal being have always been a hard one for me, and I’ve written many tributes to the people who have left an impact on me, not only since I’ve been in Clay County, but who have left an impact on my life.
Losing Don Russell was, first and foremost about his family, whether his close family, or his extended family, as I have received so many thank you’s for last week’s paper and the tribute we did for Don, but most importantly, Don deserved a final “send off” so to speak, in the paper that he really built into a statewide “powerhouse.”
This week, as we move forward, our focus turns to several things...getting the Clay County Fair results special section on the street, hopefully in the next week or two, however long it takes, we’re looking to the start of another school year, which will be my 18th school year since “jumping on board” at the Clay County News.
We’ll have some features coming in regarding to the new school year, the changes in staff, leadership and programs at each school, but we’ll also have our lead-in to the Fall Sports season for all three schools in the county, and all the planning that comes with that.
But this week, as you will notice by the dateline on our newspaper, our paper this week aligns with the day in which three years ago, our building was damaged by an early morning tornado, and EF-1 tornado, in the Saturday morning hours of July 29, 2023.
It left a “doozy” of a challenge, not just for us, but for many, and as most people and businesses have picked up and moved on from that mess, we’re still “fighting the fight” so to speak.
These past three years have been a messy situation, dealing with insurance, getting bids, clean-up and so on, but I remember that morning back in 2023, fresh out of the shower, getting a call from Doc Ebert, and if I remember right, Steve Serr “rode out the storm” in his chiropractic clinic.
“You might want to get downtown as soon as it is safe, because I’m not sure, but I think your roof is laying in the middle of main street.”
Well, it wasn’t our roof, no, it was from another business north of us, puncturing holes in other roofs along the way, before landing between our building and the Cornerstone Bank building.
I distinctly remember my first thought going to Scoop the News Cat, because he rode out the storm inside the building, but it was as if it never even phased him. I found him deeply asleep in my office chair, even waking him up from a deep sleep when I walked in the back door, because the front was a mess, and water was pouring in.
Scoop, who has since passed, two years ago this coming Aug. 26, was a trooper. Once he woke up from his trance, I let him wander a bit to “investigate.”
That is until I was told to evacuate the building and get out, because of the fear of a “cave in.”
So now that the dramatics of that morning storm, that affected so many buildings, a few homes and the Fox Hollow Golf Course, have passed, here three years later, I still stress, I still worry and wonder just what is the future of our return to 207 N. Saunders Ave.
Many of you have repeatedly asked many of us “are you ever going to get back to your office,” to which I simply say, “time will tell.”
I’d love to, but when some issues remain beyond the control of my staff and myself, I can’t say whether or not when that might happen.
So, as you can simply see...I have many unanswered questions myself, so when you ask, I’m going to respond with “hopefully soon, but I’m just not sure.”
Don’s passing a few week’s ago brought on many what-if’s, because he was such a strong “sounding board” for me, because he sincerely cared, because the CCN was his “baby” in many ways.
And with the start of another school year coming in just a couple of weeks, the pace isn’t going to slow, as a matter of fact, it’s going to get crazier to deal with an episode that happened three years ago.
At this point in the game, the focus is “one day at a time,” and “one step at a time.”
As I said, sometimes, writing a column isn’t always the easiest, especially after an emotional piece in the Bull last week about someone I respected and enjoyed stopping in a few times a week.
Have a great week all.
