Experience that shaped my future...

I began working for James Lenamon and The Albany News when I was in high school. Mostly in the summers, I would primarily type columns and contributions to the newspaper from others. My job was also inputting the weekly ad for Hometown Grocery on the new Compugraphic typesetting equipment. That machine was huge(!) and took up almost an entire little office.

I was editor of “The Lion’s Roar” at Albany High, and James gave us the opportunity to use 1 or 2 pages of the weekly newspaper for our school paper. We wrote columns and news stories about what was happening at the school and were also responsible for selling small signature ads to pay for the space. What an extraordinary experience that was! We got the experience of working on a real newspaper, with a real journalist, while in high school. I got the newspaper bug and decided that was to be my future.

After receiving a journalism degree from Texas Tech, I returned to Albany and worked off and on for a couple of livestock magazines -- and had the good fortune to work for Donnie and Melinda Lucas during that time. What an amazing situation we had! At one time, there were four of us with journalism degrees working at this weekly newspaper. I have no proof, but surely that is not a regular occurrence.

I gained so much valuable work experience with Donnie and Melinda. They became good friends and made it a fun place to work, but we also knew we had a standard to maintain.

Donnie and Melinda have operated the newspaper in Albany with the utmost integrity and have earned and deserve the respect of all the citizens of Albany and Shackelford County. They have kept up with innovations in the production of the newspaper and are now a long way from the cut-and-paste days of the 1970s and ’80s.

After moving to Abilene, I went to work for The Abilene Reporter-News and quickly saw how valuable my experience was in Albany. I learned things in college, but I acquired practical knowledge in Albany that served me well through my newspaper career.

In recent years, as daily newspapers have declined in quality and substance, The Albany News has held its own and continued to publish informative and enlightening stories. If you live in Albany and haven’t seen other weekly newspapers (and many dailies), you may not realize what a jewel is right there. Your local newspaper is by far a better publication right now than many others. Through the years, the Lucases have provided a valuable product to the community of Albany. They have chronicled events – good and bad – with facts, courage and journalistic ethics.

Donnie and Melinda have worked hard as owners of the newspaper and deserve a restful retirement. I hope – along with many of you readers – that the new owners will treat this institution with the care and respect that it deserves. The Albany News has survived many years, but with just a handful of editors and owners. Donnie and Melinda recognized that local newspapers play an important role in the community and can never be replaced with social media, far-away sources online, or national broadcasts.

Hats off to Donnie and Melinda – enjoy your retirement!