The last Atmore News
By SHERRY DIGMON
News Publisher
Bittersweet. That’s the best description.
Bitter in that there is sadness, of course, in ending our 20 years with the newspaper. And sweet in that we’ve served 20 years and can look forward to some time off.
This is our last edition of Atmore News.
There’s so much I could write – good and bad – about this journey, but I’ll just mention here a couple of things I’m most proud of in publishing this paper.
A number of years ago – I don’t remember how many – Myrna got a phone call from one of the local funeral directors. He asked if we were going to start charging to run obituaries in Atmore News. She asked him what he was talking about. He said other papers were starting to charge. Her answer to him – The day we start charging a family for printing a loved one’s obituary is the day we lock our door.
Well, we’re locking our door but not because of that. We’re proud that we’ve never charged for that service. We can’t say it’s right or wrong what other papers do, just saying that was wrong for Atmore News.
The other thing we’re proud of is our home delivery. We’re the only paper in the county (in the region, I believe – maybe the state!) which still offered home delivery. Some of you have been with us since day one. The downside to home delivery is that it was every week – every Tuesday, for 20 years. That was a commitment that was sometimes burdensome.
Myrna Monroe, Ryan Carter and I started the paper in 2005. Through the years, we’ve had quite a few people who joined us on this journey, and we thank them for their part in bringing the news to you.
Donna Fitzpatrick
Josh Frye
Patricia Green
Phil Johnson
Gordon Murph
Gary Murph (dec.)
Tom Tschida
Daniel “Danny” White
Linda Arthur
Gwen Barnett
Suzanne Digmon
Karen Long
Taylor Helton (Lee)
Tal Black
Blake Bell
Walt Butler (dec.)
Herb Hackman
Lee Weyhrich
Alfred Johnson
And we end with four of us – Don Fletcher, Ditto Gorme, Myrna and me.
Don has worked with us 9 years and Ditto 7 years. They are two of the best I’ve ever worked with. Ditto’s photography and graphics speak for themselves, and he has also done our newspaper layout. Don is hands down the best reporter I’ve ever worked with – great attention to detail and accuracy. Don and I have our names out there more than Myrna and Ditto. However, Myrna’s What’s for Supper? column has been the most popular part of the paper.
We’ve employed many high school kids to write football for us through the years. I didn’t go back through the papers to get names, but they were a great help to us.
Volunteers helped us more than they could ever know. We owe a debt of gratitude to Wanda Hall, Susan Tuthill, Michael Arnold, the late Betty Brown, and the late Ann Amerson.
While Michael, Wanda and Susan have not helped us for a long time, we’ve pressed Wanda into service again since Myrna had knee surgery April 29.
Many thanks to pastors, laymen and laywomen who have written columns for our Faith & Values page every week. When Myrna, Ryan and I started planning the paper, this was one of the first pages we planned. Our last four writers are the Rev. Monroe Tucker, Roni Moore, the Rev. Kevin Garrett and the Rev. Walter Albritton.
To our advertisers, thank you for believing in our product and what we were trying to do for the community.
To our readers, simply – thank you for buying our paper.
With much sadness and much gratitude for your support through the years, we publish our last edition of Atmore News.
We love you all.
God bless you, and God bless Atmore.