Reaching out to the community

Webster's dictionary defines community journalism as, "locally oriented, professional news coverage that typically focuses on city neighborhoods, individual suburbs or small towns, rather than metropolitan, state, national or world news."

Since graduating from college in 2006 and working for two community newspapers, I have strived to do just that.

Since being named the "copy editor" for the Chelsea and Dexter communities in December 2009, I have tried to do just that.

Lately my office has received phone calls from residents often speaking out of anger and frustration about how the newspaper is "no longer local." They also ask, "What is your thinking in regard to what you publish?" or "What happend to the paper?"

The latter question I don't know how to answer, because nothing has "happend" to the newspaper. It's the same newspapers. Well, I take that back.

The Chelsea Standard and Dexter Leader is trying to do more with less. It's no secret that the economy has affected all businesses. Newspapers are no exception. With less revenue from subscriptions, ad sales, etc., there is less money to pay for a larger staff.

And while we are trying to do more with less, we are also trying to evolve with the changing news demographic.

Most of you have read or seen that over the last few months, my reporter Sean Dalton and I have created a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Blogger. We also are adding online videos to supplement our news stories that we post on our Websites, www.chelseastandard.com and www.dexterleader.com on a daily basis.

This is an exciting time for journalists. We are working to bring as much local news as we possibly can on a 24 hour, seven day a week basis. That is a HUGE feat for two people! But it is something we are having fun doing. This is exciting for local community newspapers because instead of waiting for the newspaper to come out once a week, new information and up to date information can be posted on our Website.

Some of you may say this is nothing new and that daily newspapers have been doing this already. Well, this makes your LOCAL newspaper a daily newspaper.

It's frustrating when I hear that events such as Gov. Jennifer Granholm visiting Chelsea took place and our newspaper was not contacted by anyone. It takes both the community and the community newspaper to work together in order to sustain each other.

To this end, Sean and myself have begun taking it upon ourselves to contact local service clubs and religious groups in our communities to request a partnership. After reading our evaluations that Heritage Newspapers printed in our paper earlier this year, we heard that there was a resounding need to report on more Christian groups in Dexter. To this end, Sean launched a speaking tour with local religious leaders to talk with them and determine how the newspaper can work with them.

I plan to meet with local service groups in Chelsea as my time permits. My first meeting is with the Chelsea Kiwanis Club later this month.

The newspaper is reaching out to the community during this exciting transition and we hope that input from the community will continue to make the Dexter Leader and Chelsea Standard the best small town local source of information. And as always, my door is always open, it's just a short drive away.
Happy reading!

Chelsea Relay for Life impresses

So far I have three Dexter Relay for Life's under my belt, so this was my first year covering the one in Chelsea, and it was a very impressive display the connections that exist not just in the Chelsea community, but with other communities as well.

Manchester and Dexter had a presence. Manchester's CRC team and Michelle Mrocko's team were present. A team from Pinckney with a touching story that I won't spoil here will be the main portion of Thursday's Chelsea Relay for Life coverage.

When I left them Saturday afternoon the RLF organizers were fervently counting the money they had raised. As I spoke to some of the teams a couple of fundraising milestones were announced. Can't wait to see the preliminary numbers Monday evening.

Next Take Care around the corner

It's been a little longer than I had hoped getting another installment of Take Care - my semi-regular health column that has focused mostly on my experience with chiropractic care, for those unfamiliar with it.

I'm happy to report that I have the results of my second set of spinal and neck x-rays and readings, and the results were quite pleasing. For the full run-down keep an eye on our papers and the website.

On a semi-related note I attended Dr. Bill Simpson's second dinner event at Dexter Pub. Every month or so he puts out an open invitation to folks in the community to have dinner on him, alongside a raffle for $75, a special offer first time visit and a lot of good conversation and networking.

Songs in the key of E minor

During the last few months, I have found renewed interest in doing things I always said I would do but never got around to doing. So far, it has yielded some decent results. After three years, I finally tackled my fears and applied for, and was accepted to, graduate school at Wayne State University. I will begin classes in the fall. Also in my spare time — which translates to once a week — have begun teaching myself how to play guitar.

Those that know me know that I already play bass guitar in a band called Delirious Love. For those that don't, you can read all about that band on Facebook (just search for "Delirious Love").
But, I've also always had a passion to learn how to play guitar. For one thing, being able to play guitar greatly expands my ability to play songs and write songs that interest me. My band members have no interest in Johnny Cash, Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen. It was like pulling teeth to even get the band to OK some Neil Diamond, even though our band name was taken from a song on his 2006 album "12 Songs."

So, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, I lock myself in my apartment's spare bedroom and pull up the guitar chords online for Diamond's "Red Red Wine," The Kinks' "Lola" or Springsteen's "Born to Run" and try to play along to the CD. The hardest part is learning what finger is supposed to push down on what string or fret. My brother, who is a guitar guru, calls this process "muscle memory."

My patience also runs thin trying to use a guitar pick. I can strum down, but my upstroke sounds like someone is ripping the strings from the fretboard. Now, if I strum using my thumb, I sound pretty good. My brother warns me though to not get use to strumming the guitar with my thumb.

After two months, I have three chords memorized (Em, Am, and D). I am working on the G and C chords before moving onto the dreaded "Fm" chord that my brother says usually gets people so frustrated that they quit. Luckily Em, Am and D make up a lot of songs. And when I come across a chord I can't play (F sharp minor), I just simply stop strumming the guitar and hum the chord. I wouldn't necessarily call the result a "song" per say, but it's the start of something. At this rate, I give myself a year before I am able to pick up a guitar with confidence and strum through an entire song. Luckily, I have plenty of time to learn.

In the meantime, I'll keep strumming along to my iTunes music while my girlfriend turns the television up loud enough to drown out the sound of persistence coming from the other room. I'm just kidding. Actually she's very supportive. When she heard I wanted to learn guitar, she scrounged around her mom's house until she found her old guitar. That is what I am using as I journey through this new challenge. And with any luck, I will have something positive to report about my progress as I forge ahead.

Rock on fellow musicians and music lovers!

New poll results!

Which summer festival are you looking forward to?
Ann Arbor Art Fairs: 30 percent
Chelsea Summer Fest: 30 percent
Ypsilanti Heritage Festival: 24 percent
Saline Celtic Festival: 16 percent

What are you doing with your tax refund?
Saving it: 44 percent
Using it on household expenses: 37 percent
Spending it on something special: 15 percent
Spending it on vacation: 4 percent

How much do you donate to nonprofits each year?
$1,000 or more: 54 percent
Under $100: 21 percent
$100 to $300: 16 percent
$300 to $500: 9 percent

What do you do when you have an hour of spare time?
Read a book: 36 percent
Read a newspaper: 34 percent
Play online games: 20 percent
Update Facebook page: 9 percent

What do you think should be a priority of WISD consolidates services?
Human resources: 42 percent
Money savings: 33 percent
Students outcome: 18 percent
Service quality: 6 percent

Lima Township Cemetery Gets Facelift

I got an early morning call today giving me the head's up that a group of Lima Township residents would be working to clean up one of the township's four cemeteries.

And if you didn't know about the cemetery, you'd never find it.

I've probably driven by it thousands of times and didn't know it was there. But members of the Chelsea American Legion knew it was there because veteran's graves were flanked by American Flags.

I spied gravestones that dated back to 1801. Some of the stones were so weathered, you couldn't read who was buried there. Others were toppled over or covered in brambles. The site had definitely seen better days.

But a group of 10-15 township residents will spend the next four days cleaning up the cosmetics of the site -- led by the efforts of Ed Greenleaf. But this is just the first phase of the work.

Following the heavy lifting comes the mystery solving. As Greenleaf and other members of the township's cemetery committee will begin contacting families of those buried at the site to try to make heads and tails of all the people who are buried there.

The men are donating their time, their equipment, and their sweat equity to the cause in the names of all of those who went before them.

I'd like to give a shout out to Bill Coury, Don Laier, George Hellner, Ed Greenleaf, Ron Herrst, Craig Maier, Bob Bulmon, Chuck Chamberlain and Tom Bater.

A fitting way to honor former township residents before Memorial Day.

The dark side has sucked me in ...

When I entered journalism school (or J-school as we in the field call it) seven years ago, one of the first things that my professors hammered into my head was to avoid those public relations majors, or "PRs" across the hall. All they serve to do is corrupt our young minds and coerce us over to their side, ignoring all the skills that create a true journalist.

Some of my friends, even a dorm roommate, ignored my professors' warnings and switched their majors halfway through the semester. Some even waited until their last semester of college to pull a 180 and go over to "the dark side." I guess they were afraid what graduating actually meant -- finding a job.

For me, the extent of my education in public relations work rested in one BORING advertising class I took my junior year. I remember the textbook was Latin to me, and half of the time we sat analyzing British commercials to determine how effective they were on the target audience. Of course, every now and then, one of the commercials would be a little risque with half-naked men and women blabbering on about some new milk product or clothing detergent. I guess the ad worked for all of us college students since that's what I took away from commerical analysis 101.

You are probably asking yourself, "Where is he going with all of this?" The answer, dear readers, is simply this: About three months ago I began re-evaluating my career track, and, after many a sleepless night, decided now is a good time to apply for graduate school.

I know, just like my family said, I'm crazy for taking on such a huge task on top of running two community newspapers right? Well, this week I found out I was accepted to Wayne State in their Master's of Public Relations program. I am quite excited. I have begun looking at class schedules and I will begin my first class in the fall.

Before I get ahead of myself, yes I will continue my coverage in the Chelsea and Dexter communities and I look forward to more great stories in the future.

Regards!
Daniel

Chelsea scouts donate time, supplies to Hearts Community Service

For the past few months, Boy Scout Pack 435 has been planning a celebration honoring the 100-year birthday for Boy Scouts of America.

Pack 435 decided to collect 100 different items that were on the wish list for Hearts Community Service. Nancy Harris, director for HCS, was presented with the collection.

"I was so amazed and pleased with the thoughtfulness and generosity from the scouts and their parents. Hearts received towels, toys, clothing, dishes and food, all of which will be given out to families and individuals who have lost everything and are starting all over again,” she said. “The need is great out there and these young scouts were so happy to help others. What a wonderful thing for the scouts to take on.”

Scouts launch recycling intiative in Dexter

Six members of Dexter Cadette Girl Scout Troop 580 are earning the Silver Award for launching a recycling project to help raise funds for Mill Creek Middle School.

The scouts are collecting garbage that will be “upcycled” by a company called Terracycle and made into products such as tote bags, backpacks, lunchboxes, notebooks, etc.

The Silver Award is the highest award that can be earned by middle school students. In order to complete the Silver Award, each person in the troop has to contribute at least 50 project hours. The scouts have expanded their project to other schools in the Dexter school district.

“We are hoping to get a lot of donations at the end of the school year when teachers and students will be cleaning out their desks,” scout Kourtney Koch said.

For each wrapper or piece of trash collected, the troop is credited two cents by Terracycle. Troop 580 has selected Mill Creek Middle School to be the non-profit organization to benefit from its efforts. Some of the items being collected are resealable bags (any brand); food storage containers (any brand), drink pouches, snack bar wrappers, chip bags, cookie package wrappers and yogurt containers, among others. For a full list of items visit the Dexter Community Education Website and click on community fliers. E-mail dextergs580@gmail.com to arrange a pick up.

History Lesson

On April 2o, the Chelsea Area Historical Society presented two programs to second grade students at North Creek Elementary. Janet Ogle-Mater and Gerri Anderson conducted a play with the children about the settlement of Chelsea.

Two other CAHS members, George Till and Cynthia Furlong Reynolds, engaged the students with a number of early American antiques while talking about immigration, pioneers, and the Civil War. During the remainder of the day, second grade teachers held class in “one-room schoolhouses” and taught as in olden days.

Johns takes up challenge after reading staff writer's column

By Sean Dalton
Heritage Newspapers

In the newspaper business, unless you get a phone call from someone criticizing your work or letters to the editor in response to a specific article, you often wonder if what you’re writing is having an impact.

Every once in awhile we get thank you cards or a reader fills out a questionnaire (yes, we do actually see those and take them to heart so keep the feedback coming), but something completely different happened to me last week when I picked up the phone.

Dexter resident Patti Johns called and shared an extraordinary bit of feedback in response to my Jan. 7 editorial, “Make Faith in Action your 2010 resolution.”

Since reading my editorial at the outset of the year, she has been shopping once each month for Faith in Action. After her grocery shopping is done, she takes a separate basket in arm and fills it with $25 to $30 worth of items that FIA desperately needs to address the seemingly invisi-ble needy families of Chelsea and Dexter.

“There was just something about the way that you wrote it,” Johns told me.

She almost used that issue to light her fireplace before fishing it out of the kindling pile to give the column a second read, which I guess did the trick.

“I knew I had to start doing it … I said, ‘You have to do this,’ to myself,” she added.

As I talked to Johns it became obvious to me that she possessed a key component within her character that capitalized on my writing.

Johns was on aid to dependent children 30 years ago, just like my own mother.

Like my own mother she worked hard to improve her lot in life and eventually got back on her own two feet. She found herself in a situation where she and her daughter and her new husband and his two children united as a family and thrived.

The thought had never really occurred to her until recently, but what if she hadn’t had that support early on?

President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program was putting food on the ta-ble and clothes on her daughter’s back, while friends and neighbors were helping to fill in when she couldn’t be there, like when her daughter needed to be taken to or picked up from the bus stop when she needed to be at work.

“I’ve been there where I didn’t have any money to put in the gas tank,” Johns said. “At one point I thought my husband was paying the house payments, which he wasn’t. By the third month they said they’re coming to take our house away.”

Despite being as “poor as poor can be,” Johns said she wasn’t previously aware of the need that FIA tries to meet in the county.

Like so many residents, she had a hard time seeing through a surface of well kept lawns, a polished downtown district and strongly supported schools to the truth: no matter where you are there are people who need a hand.

Johns said she has learned a lot about FIA since extending that hand. She has gotten even more adamant about sale shopping, trying to make her $30 stretch to $35 or $40 worth of canned goods, crackers and toiletries.

“It’s just something now that I think I have to do every month,” Johns said. “Right now a lot of people have lost their jobs and some of them are getting them back, but not everybody.”

As a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Johns sees another dimension to need – people who can’t afford their medications.

“We see a lot of people who can’t afford their medicine who go off of it,” she said. “We contact a social worker because they really aren’t making it. Patients become quiet and discontinue (their medications) because they don’t have the money to pay for it.”

Poverty is a complicated issue that affects all areas of someone’s life. I wonder how many of those patients that Johns came across were skipping their medication so they could afford to eat.

Perhaps the food she is donating each month is sparing a family somewhere in Dexter or Chelsea from having to make such difficult decisions.

Maybe Johns is providing that last nudge of support for some young mother somewhere going through the same thing that she went through.

I would like to personally congratulate Patti Johns for bolstering my faith in a number of ways.Hopefully folks will recognize her at the grocery store and be inspired to take a basket in arm for the sake of the county’s invisible needy.