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Report for America opens positions for 150 journalists Guest Column: How about newspaper subscription for Christmas?
Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly
By Danny Tyree
Vol. 16 | No.49 | Wednesday, December 16, 2021 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
Weekly Vista columnist subject of new museum exhibit It’s not often retired newspaper columnists get their own museum exhibit. Yet the award-winning works of retired columnist Jan Burgess are the subject of a new temporary exhibit at the Bella Vista Historical Museum, on display through the end of the year. From 2009 through 2017, Burgess penned a popular monthly religion column for the Weekly Vista in Bella Vista. The exhibit includes, among others, three columns for which she won firstplace Arkansas Press Association Better Newspaper Editorial Contest awards for freelance writing and two of her three columns that placed third in the awards. “My column was called ‘Simple Faith.’ It was a God-centered column; it was ‘God is everywhere,’” Burgess says. “If people wanted to read it, if they were Christian and religious, they would probably enjoy it. If they weren’t, they could just put the newspaper down and they didn’t have to look at it.” The column was full of her insights about the presence of the divine in the mundane activities of daily life. In one firstplace finisher, “Leaves on the Tree of Life,” Burgess mused on inspiration she discovered in the life cycle of what she had previously viewed as bothersome autumn leaves. Others were written with a kind of quiet poetry made accessible by Burgess’ down-to-earth subjects and clear style. Burgess explains that her column ran once a month alongside a column from one of five local pastors who would contribute their writing. “But if a pastor forgot, the editor would come to me to fill their space,” she says. “I didn’t want to have to come up with something last-minute, so I got in the habit of writing extra columns several months out.” In fact, when Burgess retired in 2016, she already had six months of columns in the can, so she agreed to write six more so the newspaper would have a full year of her content. “And then I was done!” she laughs. Xyta Lucas is co-president of the Bella Vista Historical Museum, an all-volunteer organization. She says the exhibit came about because Burgess was trying to figure out what to do with binders of her published columns and framed APA awards. Continued on Page 2