Pop Goes The World
Twenty years ago, I was sitting in the break room at Lowe’s reading the paper when I ran across a classified ad of interest. The News-Gazette was looking for a copy editor.
At the time I had been at Lowe’s for three years and was looking for a new challenge. In college I was on the staff of the school magazine and after graduation I had worked briefly for a Rockbridge County weekly paper. But was that enough experience to secure a job at The News-Gazette? Surely there was someone out there more qualified than I was.
Suppressing my self doubt, I decided to take a chance and submit my resume. To my complete shock, I got a call for an interview with the editor, Darryl Woodson.
While I’ve always been a bit shy around strangers, especially ones whom I’m trying to impress with my strong verbal communication skills, I was put at ease by his folksy and unpretentious manner. It was just like talking to an acquaintance I had not seen in a while.
After a second interview, I was offered the job, which I happily accepted.
I officially began my duties as the paper’s full-time copy editor in November 2005. I would soon be joined by Kathleen Nowacki-Correia, the part-time copy editor.
Being in the newsroom at first was a little daunting. I felt like I was in the presence of legends. I had always enjoyed the features and photos of Claudia Schwab and now I was her coworker. I had worked with Ed Smith before and I was so happy to be working with him again. From day one, reporters Kit Huffman and Roberta Anderson were so welcoming and kind to me. Doug Chase, who was writing sports stories, editorials and, of course, his column back then, had been a lifelong friend of my uncle, Buddy, and had so many stories to tell about him, as well as the paper, Lexington and so many other things.
It was the paper’s chief financial officer, Lori Hamilton, who told me that staff was fond of snacking while she gestured toward a bag of donuts on the copy machine in the ad department. I soon discovered that Lori was a cat person so I knew I’d have a person I could converse about kitties with.
That first year I was there, I was unaware that the staff members exchanged gifts at Christmas. So when I came to work on the day of the Christmas party, I was surprised to find my desk covered in homemade goodies and wrapped presents. I had no gifts for them. I’m not a percussionist so I couldn’t even play a drum for them.
Over the years, my role has expanded at the paper. Not long after I started, I began working on page composition, first just making corrections and then filling in for the layout designer, Stephanie Blevins, when she was away. We very quickly found out we had a lot in common from the music we like to the television shows we watch. Had we known each other when we were growing up, I imagine we would have had some epic Barbie play with the Bionic Woman doll infiltrating the set of the Donny and Marie Show.
On Stephanie’s days off, I can always count on Gaylea Goodbar to say, “If you need help with corrections or anything, let me know.” And she means it. We can also always count on her buffalo chicken dip to be delicious.
April Mikels is usually the one who spearheads our snack days, those days when we all bring in something loaded with carbs and calories but made with love to share with our fellow employees. We have those as often as possible. April is our ad salesperson and she’s quite good at that.
Advertising is what keeps a paper alive. The advertising inch count determines how many pages we print every week. During the recession of the late 2000s, businesses were not advertising very much because business wasn’t very good anywhere. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was lots of news and most of it was very grim, but ad revenue plunged. I was laid off for a month in 2020. Our publisher, Matt Paxton, assured me he was working very hard to have me back in the fold as soon as possible, and when he secured funding through a pandemic era payroll relief program, I was returned to the newsroom.
During my 20 years at the paper, I have covered talks by Supreme Court justices, famous journalists and politicians. I have won awards for my writing and photography. I have seen many people come and go. Right now I am the only woman working in the newsroom. Joseph Haney and Scotty Dransfield hold the positions that Kit Huffman and Roberta Anderson once held. They both bring a youthful energy to the paper and also popular nibbles to our snack days. Jonathan Schwab, a son of Claudia Schwab, is our sports editor, and he recently became a father for the first time. The child will no doubt be gifted with his dry wit and adventurous spirit. Mary Ruley recently joined our ranks in the front office. She takes her responsibilities very seriously and bears a striking resemblance to actress June Lockhart.
I thought when I answered that classified ad 20 years ago that I was just applying for a job at a small town newspaper. But in reality I was joining a family.
I have heard that referring to one’s coworkers as family is toxic, but I don’t know if I believe that. The people who work for The News-Gazette truly care about the paper they put out each week and we truly care for each other. I think the fact that most of us have been here for multiple decades says a great deal about our work environment. I know I never want to work anywhere else. This is home.
