Our Words issue 1

OurWords

VOICES AND VIEWS FROM RURAL ALABAMA

There Are No Little Stories

by Maura Casey

News is the lifeblood of a community, and so consider me a cheerleader for the PACERS Rural Community Newspaper Network and its effort to expand the understanding of everyday happenings in Alabama. These newspapers, and the work done to launch their publication, is absolutely crucial. To tell you why, let me relate a story of my own.

announced the news of Anna’s birth yet?” My husband smiled, and without missing a beat, he said, “No, but you journalists always miss the big stories.”

Pete was teasing me, because I was then the editorial page editor of the local newspaper in Lawrence, Mass. But his observation was far more profound than he intended. Pete was right: The big stories are always contained in the small stories. They are often overlooked because they are ordinary, and yet, they make up the beating heart of a community. Indeed, they embody life itself.

Perhaps especially the latter. My Anna has her own baby now, and when I first saw her, I blurted out, “Oh, Ellie, how did I ever breathe without you? Welcome, welcome!”

It’s all news, darn it, and none of it is trivial. It’s big stuff. Bigger than we know. It helps make us neighbors. It binds us together. It helps us realize all that we have in common, and enables us to see that differences are never so great as what unites us.

Newspapers have shuttered permanently and the ones still in print have tiny and overworked staffs. They barely have time to cover a fire or a fatal highway accident during a normal day. Anything less than a catastrophe is often ignored.

Inevitably, the publications become top-heavy with wire

market will open for the season.

And that’s why I am thrilled to see this mission to expand critical news in uncovered corners of Alabama. Like a benevolent and helpful contagion (unlike the virus we have all been dealing with since last year), I hope the effort spreads.

One Sunday morning, longer ago than I would like to admit, I was resting in the hospital a day after the birth of my daughter Anna. My husband and I had a yearslong tradition of watching CBS Sunday Morning, so as Pete sat by my bed, he turned on the program. After a few minutes, I said to him, halfseriously, “Has Charles Kuralt

Births and deaths, after all, bookend all the stories that occur in between: The family reunions and the harvest; the weather, whether hot, or freezing, comprising late frosts or early springs; the church picnics; the visitors from out of town; wedding anniversaries; the really wonderful sermon the good reverend gave last week; the neighbor who is on chemo again, but putting up a spirited fight; the college scholarships; the high school graduations and the longedfor arrival of grandchildren.

Of course, journalism also shines a spotlight on what is wrong, and what needs to be fixed. After all, there are some people who you can’t afford to take your eyes off of for a minute. So investigative reporting is necessary and vital. But so is all the rest.

One of the great tragedies of the demise of journalism during this era is the decline of reporting all the little/big stories that cry out to be told.

Journalism as an industry has laid off many thousands of reporters and editors in the last dozen years and the Covid-19 pandemic has unfortunately accelerated the trend.

copy that stresses the national over the local. Life is viewed from 30,000 feet up. But that view is supremely unhelpful most of the time.

It won’t tell me when the pothole on my street will be filled, for example, before it swallows my Volkswagen, or whether the soup kitchen needs more helping hands, or when the local farmer’s

So here’s to The Pintlala Ledger, The Camp Hill Chronicle, The Beatrice Legacy and The Packer’s Bend Times.

I salute your faith, your energy, your coming deadlines, and all the great stories, small and large, that make life worth living and chronicling. Godspeed to your coming good work.

Maura Casey

“It’s all news, darn it, and none of it is trivial. It’s big stuff. Bigger than we know.”

Guest columnist Maura Casey spent her 35-year journalism career writing opinion editorials for four newspapers, including The New York Times. Along the way she shared a Pulitzer Prize and won 45 state and national journalism awards. She lives on a small farm in Connecticut with her husband, Pete. They have two adult children, Anna and Tim, and one absolutely perfect granddaughter.

Making Their Own Record, With Their Own Words

by Dr. Jack Shelton

Beatrice, Pintlala, Camp Hill and Packers Bend. These are rural Alabama communities, sized small to smaller. The Howards, Freddie and Mary. Sara Huff and Diann Harris. Jean Mosley and Messiah Williams. The Burtons, Gary and Jerrie. These are folks who live and work in these largely unchronicled places.

For each and every one of these people, these towns mean something. And in commitment to their communities, as part of the PACERS Rural Community Newspaper Network (PRCNN), they are documenting local life by publishing newspapers: The Pintlala Ledger, The Camp Hill Chronicle, The Beatrice Legacy and The Packer’s Bend Times

The late Richard Tait encouraged the publication of The Packer’s Bend Times to ensure the history of his community will not be lost. Gary Burton is dedicated to The Pintlala Ledger as a community-building vehicle that can draw people together by sharing information common to their lives and experiences.

Jean Mosey aims to resurrect The Camp Hill Chronicle, previously produced by her students at Edward Bell High School and always eagerly received by the community. Mary Howard intends for The Beatrice Legacy to provide a lasting account of current and historical goings-on in Beatrice and north Monroe County.

These publishing founders are also keenly aware of a common reality: Their undocumented rural communities, and places like them

throughout Alabama, face unique issues and challenges. And these are the very same concerns their papers will identify, record and ultimately, help address.

These good and worthy pursuits are motivation for the good people in these small communities to take up the task of publishing newspapers.

Local newspapers provide an essential forum for community building and record-keeping. In their collective acts of publication, there are significant assertions to be found:

Our communities are important. Our communities are also worthy of documentation.

With a strong “do it yourself” mentality, these people are confident that fellow members of their communities have the competence and commitment necessary to publish. In order to reach their goal of producing quality papers, they have joined the PACERS newspaper network, underlining their recognition of the power of collaboration.

If there is no lasting record of a small community’s heritage, a sense of place

cannot long exist, nor can a sense of identity.

“It is reassuring to know that Pintlala is in a strong network of rural communities developing local newspapers. The network makes being small not hard at all,” said Burton, pastor of Pintlala Baptist Church.

The community staff members for these papers have existing jobs and responsibilities. They know publishing requires them to master new skills, donate time and meet demanding

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All information herein has been checked for accuracy to the best of the publisher’s ability. No responsibility is accepted for deletions, omissions, errors and/or inaccuracies unless special placement within the publication was purchased. Publisher reserves the right to place ads on a first-come, first-serve basis. No materials contained herein may be reproduced without exclusive written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed by contributing writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the publisher’s opinion.

Publisher

DR. JACK SHELTON

Mailing address 8895 Highway 51 Westover AL  35147-9518

Editor GARRETT LANE Designer FRED FLUKER

Advertising inquiries Dr. Jack Shelton (jackshelton@prodigy.net)

© Copyright 2021 by OUR WORDS: VOICES AND VIEWS FROM RURAL ALABAMA, all rights reserved.

Special thanks to all our advertisers, business associates, departments, contributing writers and all other supporting contributions involved in making this possible.

Written and photographic documentation, such as this image of a locally handmade quilt originally featured in The Packer’s Bend Times, can help tell and preserve stories of community culture, identity and heritage.

Richard Winifred Tait

APRIL 19, 1945 – AUGUST 24, 2020

by Sara Huff, The Packer’s Bend Times

Mr. Richard W. Tait, a patriarch, a pillar of his community, a loving husband, father, brother and uncle, was born on April 19, 1945, in Selma, Ala., at Good Samaritan Hospital, to the late Brooksie Tait Sr. and Esteen Powell Tait. He joined Mt. Sinai A.M.E. Church at an early age and remained a faithful member until he transitioned this life to be with the Lord on Aug. 24, 2020.

He attended primary school in the Monroe County school system. His mother was one of his teachers, and his father was his school bus driver. He later attended Mobile County Training School, where he graduated in 1963. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1964 and served his country for four years. He then returned to Packer’s Bend, Ala., where he remained a lifelong resident.

Richard and his devoted wife of 38 years, Marvia Coleman Tait, completely renovated his parents’ plantation-style home and land acreage into a beautiful oasis, which included a fishing pond, antique farm equipment, grape vines and fruit trees. He was employed at Weyerhaeuser in Pine Hill, Ala., for 39 years until his retirement as a supervisor in 2007.

After his retirement, he reignited his church involvement and became

a very active member, serving as a trustee, building committee member and usher. He also held his community very dear to his heart, much like his parents. He was a founding member of the Packers Bend Volunteer Fire Department.

He was an active member of the PACERS board, under the auspices of Dr. Jack Shelton, the executive director and founder of the cooperative.

Richard’s efforts in the PACERS programs yielded great benefits to the students and faculty of Monroe Intermediate School.

At the time of his death, Richard was working to re-establish a local newspaper for the Packers Bend community. He was a true outdoorsman and jack of all trades, always willing to help wherever needed.

In addition to his loving wife, Richard is survived by his daughters, Santita (Sylvester) Dioh of Acworth, Ga., Sharon Kidd Darrington of Mobile, Ala., Demetris Kennedy of Birmingham, Ala., and Wendy Kennedy of Lower Peachtree, Ala.; five grandchildren, Paige (Joshua) Taylor, Tony Darrington Jr., Aaron Darrington, Chloe Kennedy and Slayton Dioh; one great-grandchild, Kaysen Taylor; brother, Brooksie (Louise) Tait Jr., of Pine Hill, Ala.; and a host of additional relatives and friends. Richard was preceded in death by his sister, Dr. Shirley Tait King.

Mr. Richard Tait thoughtfully gave of his time to MIS and to the PACERS programs there. As manager of the garden, greenhouse and aquaculture projects, he displayed his constant care for education, young people and the school. Mr. Tait was a valued member of the PACERS Board of Directors, a founder of The Packer’s Bend Times and a contributor to the PACERS book about its Monroe County initiatives, Are They Up to Anything Good? Through this extensive work, I was privileged to know and fully respect him. Richard Tait has left a fine legacy for Packers Bend and inspired others to continue that legacy.

— Dr. Jack Shelton, PACERS executive director and founder

“The Beat” to “The Legacy”

Welcoming a Community Newspaper Back to Beatrice

by Mashika Tempero-Culliver,

When I was a teenager at J. F. Shields High School, I had no real passion for writing or reading. Then, through the PACERS newspaper program, I was presented with an opportunity to discover a sense of agency and a new way of learning, both of which challenged my comfort zone and my prior passivity.

Before the program, I found writing and reading to be complicated and monotonous, disconnected from my math and science interests. But when I saw how my own voice could be used to make a difference in my community, I became motivated to read and write as much as I needed to, for the success of our paper, The Beatrice Beat

During my junior and senior years of high school, my classmates and I spent countless hours gathering stories and current events to keep our community abreast of what was going on in and around the area.

Our newspaper became the pride and joy of our school and our community. We would go from place to place to sell the paper, and there were even times when people would call to request copies.

I spoke with Kelby Williams, a fellow staff member from that era, to learn about her experiences working on The Beatrice Beat. In reflection, she said, “As a student at J. F. Shields, one of my foremost loves was a love of writing, but there was not an adequate outlet

until PACERS brought forth its school newspaper program.

I was able to refine my writing and cultivate new talents, such as photo-editing and document formatting, which would serve me later in college.

“My creativity was fostered throughout the process, as we sought to engage our fellow students and increase our readership. The most important gift this program gave us, however, was the opportunity to see our names proudly displayed on a work that was all our own.” Kelby, as a former participant, credits PACERS and the newspaper with helping her find her voice.

Looking back on my own experiences, what I enjoyed most is how we were able to give something to our community, something that brought everyone of all ages and races together. It was such a powerful thing for me to experience as a teenager.

It helped me realize that my voice and community mattered. And I acknowledge that there is an ongoing need for this newspaper program. We can’t afford not to extend such a life-changing opportunity to our school and community.

I take pride in the fact that members of our community are working with PACERS to re-establish a local publication. The Beatrice Legacy is what’s needed now to reawaken agency and a sense of unity.

There are so many aspects of our community that remain unrecognized or undocumented. So, this is a way to

extend interest in all the communities that make up the J. F. Shields family. I applaud all who are investing their time to implement this project.

As a Ph.D. student at Auburn University, my research is focused on fostering student agency in high-poverty schools. I can honestly say that my

current mindset and overall success was greatly paved by my learning experiences with the PACERS newspaper program. If it did this for me as an uninterested reader and writer, I can only imagine what more it can do – for other students, and ultimately, for the betterment of our community.

The Beatrice Legacy

Mashika Tempero-Culliver is pursuing her doctoral studies at Auburn University.

Mashika Tempero-Culliver is a 2009 graduate of J. F. Shields High School.

Fasteners and Gravel, Wisdom and Joy Lassiter’s Hardware Store

by Gary Burton, The Pintlala Ledger

On the southern fringe of the Pintlala Community, just south of Pettus Road, on the east side of U.S. Highway 31, is Lassiter’s Hardware Store. The store exceeds expectations. When you walk in with a list – say, wood screws or a crowbar, or something to eradicate fire ants – more than likely, you will find what’s on it. But you will leave with much more.

You will leave with a soul-deep connection to the core of who you are. It’s not just the massive inventory that gets to you. It’s conversation, authentic friendliness and guidance that is truly helpful. Frank Lassiter, the owner and proprietor, gets it honestly.

He is the grandson of Frank Grant Lassiter and son of John Brady Lassiter. Small community stores once dotted the landscape up and down the countryside. Frank’s grandfather built and operated the first family store in 1915, which was located at the intersection of Highway 31 and Pettus Road, in the southeastern corner.

Interestingly, it was located in front of the family home on the highway, but when the State of Alabama planned to straighten out the highway and prepare it for paving in 1930, a second store was rebuilt across the highway, where the Liberty Church of Christ parking lot now stands, on the north sid of the church.

In the second location, the store was operated by the Lassiter family followed by several others, including Fox and Amanda Hardin, the Hornady family and Tom Ganey.

Frank’s father retired from the United States Marshals Service in 1968, and by 1971 had invested in one of the first Vermeer brand round hay balers. That introduced a major transition for the family business.

John Brady Lassiter became a farm equipment dealer and worked on the equipment behind his house until

1977-78, when the current store was built. It became the office, parts department and workshop. The Lassiter business continued to evolve into cutters, rakes and bush hogs, and in 1984, they assumed a dealership for Case Tractors.

It then became necessary to construct a large building, capable of accommodating sizable equipment and a host of other things that required protection from the elements. Today the store, which has road frontage, is adjoined to that large equipment building

In 1991, Frank Lassiter began selling recycling equipment and did so for the next 10 years. He traveled the Southeast, operating a wood grinder. His interest in wood grinding, however, began to fade as his interest in hardware started to intensify.

So, he bought the Pintlala operation from his father. The date was Sept. 9, 2002. Pintlala’s magical, magnetic hardware store was born.

It was no accident that the proprietor of a small hardware store near Muscle Shoals encouraged a representative from the world’s largest independently owned hardware supplier to contact Frank Lassiter. He offered good advice, and a strong friendship formed. Armed with trustworthy advice on how and what to order, Lassiter’s Hardware Store sprouted wings and began to soar.

Frank is a feed dealer. He also sells gravel, sand, compost and topsoil, and especially enjoys using his dump truck. Frank’s wife, Debbie, has brought joy to the work. Last year found the store blossoming with flowers she provided with the inventory. The flowers were so popular, they had to be resupplied several times.

Employee Hollie Otts, in possession of an effervescent personality, lends a major plus to the business. An engaging conversationalist, she can find any item in the store. Her children join her in the work, but only after their studies have been completed from an upstairs

space. It turns out there are other successful operations like Lassiter’s around rural Alabama.

Frank has learned from his suppliers’ reps that such remotely located stores are thriving. He theorizes that the coronavirus pandemic has given people unstructured time, which they are using to visit out-of-the-way places.

Asked how the pandemic has impacted his business, Frank replied, “Only in positive ways.” Asked about big-box competitors, Lassiter wisdom continued to spill out. “Some of them operate with tons and pallets,” he said. “I operate with boards and bags.” And there is no loss in quality. There is more.

Continued page 6

Frank Lassiter established Lassiter’s Hardware Store on U.S. Highway 31 in the Pintlala Community in September 2002.

Continued from page 5

Every morning, as the Lassiters begin their day, Frank prays for God to send customers who know what they want and “who want what I have, so that I can bring them joy.”

The store’s marketing strategy builds on word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied customers. Frank’s aim is to “get in the heads of those who drive north on Pettus Road” and continue north on Highway 31.

“They never have visual contact with Lassiter’s Hardware Store, even though we are only a few yards to the south as they make the turn north from Pettus,” he said.

Part of the draw, for customers both new and established, is Frank Lassiter’s sense of humor. He has stocked up on shooting houses for hunting season. He calls them “social isolation stations.”

Lassiter’s Hardware Store is located at 15271 U.S. Highway 31, Hope Hull, AL 36043.

Continued from page 2

Making Their Own Record, With Their Own Words

and unwieldy agendas. And so, it is obvious these community journalists are affirming how their papers will serve in a locally unique fashion, and as encouraging models for other towns.

“I am excited about the possibility of this paper for the smaller communities that make up the J. F. Shields High School and our community,” said Mary Howard, a member of both the Beatrice PACERS chapter and the PACERS Incorporated board. “I look forward to showcasing locally owned businesses and events that would not otherwise be recorded. There are many things going on in our community that are not known, even to our own residents.”

The network’s primary consultants, Garrett Lane and Fred Fluker, have prior experience with PACERS

student-published community newspaper projects in Packer’s Bend, Beatrice and Camp Hill.

As a result, they hold important personal connections to those places. They also have national credentials, teaching skills, high standards and a heart for the communities.

“Alumni” and board members are providing additional assistance and encouragement, including Brenda Boman, who previously served as sponsor for the highly regarded, student-produced PACERS paper at Notasulga High School. And PACERS

alumna Laura Anderson, now with the Alabama Humanities Foundation, recently headed up a rural journalism workshop, which was most helpful to the community newspaper staffs.

Nan Fairley, a PACERS Incorporated board member and journalism

professor at Auburn University, provides consistent support, as do Pam Horn and Paul Isom, both of whom have prior PACERS experience and currently teach journalism and communication at Southern Union Community College and North Carolina State University, respectively.

“I’m grateful to still be connected to PACERS so many years after my graduate assistantship,” said Isom.

“The newspaper network provides a forum for news and opinion which in turn strengthens communities and democracy whether urban or rural, large or small, national or local. The network is especially critical where no other media exist.”

In addition to ongoing training and consultation, PACERS has provided start-up publishing equipment and

Additional help is welcomed – to put your name in the PRCNN volunteer pot, please contact Dr. Jack Shelton (jackshelton@prodigy.net).

software. More importantly, it has organized and is continually building the PRCNN to provide an essential context of support for its publications and members.

As the project progresses, the PRCNN will focus on garnering partners and needed financial backing. It will assist in linking and growing dialogue among communities who seek to publish local papers.

In times of woe and weal, the network will be a means for sharing and celebrating, and for raising standards and expectations.

Thanks to all of the PACERS volunteers and network staff – and the amazing community members – who are embarking on this bold, beautiful and collaborative journey.

A roadside horse silhouette, currently sporting a mask as a reference to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, greets customers as they arrive at the hardware store.

PACERS, My Way Forward

by Ozzie Pugh

There are moments that prove significant for the growth and maturity of your state of mind, and for your successes in life. On my own timeline, those moments are easily recognizable and easily relatable. They stand out like bright lights along a dimly lit road.

I grew up in rural Alabama, in an area where aspirations didn’t reach far beyond the local paper mill, chemical plants and whatever family businesses there were in town. As the second oldest of five children, I attended Coffeeville High School. I was part of a graduating class of about 33 students.

Although Coffeeville was small – a little 1A school near the Tombigbee River – it was gigantic when measured by its sense of community love. We literally knew every person in our class, and almost our entire school.

They were all family, one class of students related to another, all the way down to kindergarten. Every bus stop, on each dirt road or paved county road, was host to a group of brothers, sisters and cousins. All moving forward year to year, teacher to teacher, sharing laughs and troubles as they related their experiences in the same teachers’ classrooms. But, to what end?

The families of our community were what I would describe as strong and close-knit. My father, a Vietnam veteran with a sixth-grade education and a trade-school certificate, was stern about never giving up. He always challenged us to be better – better than he was, better than we were from one day to the next. He would always tell us, there isn’t anything out there you can’t do or achieve, when you work hard at it or for it.

My mother, a former secretary at the Clarke County Board of Education and a local plant called Ciba-Geigy AG, was the bookworm and educational guidance for us

all. Together, they were our family’s perfect balance of motivation. My father the hands-on, hardworking, hard-nosed one. My mother, the literary and mathematical enforcer. These two were my initial and most prominent motivators and supporters.

As I made my way through high school, I often wondered where life would lead me. Fredrick Fluker, my childhood friend since what seems like forever, would share dreams of becoming a graphic artist, cartoonist or video-game designer.

We had no idea how this would happen, but we never joined the ranks of those who saw the local mills and lumber companies as the end game. Often, we were left to ponder it: After graduation, where would we go? Coffeeville, Ala., had very little to offer for employment, and neither did its neighboring towns and cities.

As fate would have it, a tall, blond, lanky guy, and an older, more reserved gentleman with glasses, would change the course of our lives by shedding a brighter light on opportunities not yet realized. Jim Wrye and Jack Shelton, respectively, became names of legend for me. They were messengers of a future abroad that would begin locally, right there in Coffeeville. The school and community were offered a chance to join PACERS – the Program for the Academic and Cultural Enhancement of Rural Schools.

As participants in the program, we were shown how our interests could be taken to greater heights. We were given an opportunity to learn “desktop publishing,” something I had no idea about at the time. But I soon found it to be a vehicle for my love of art and design, in using computer programs like Publisher or QuarkXPress to make my ideas come to life.

We were provided the tools and skills needed to conceptualize, design, write and publish a school-community newspaper. We called it The Panther

Press. This was a chance to create something our community had never had. And the most amazing part was, it was all done by students. Not by our parents or our teachers, but us, the students.

PACERS taught us to find additional strengths within ourselves. To be creative in our work, in our research, in our community. Although I played various sports, PACERS would teach me even more about teamwork. We relied on each other to gather information, do the groundwork, take pictures and create the layouts to produce a publication we would want to represent us.

As time went on, the programs became more of a way of life. Even to the point that my friends and I

went on to work with PACERS at The University of Alabama, as we pursued degrees in journalism and graphic design. As PACERS partners, we evolved from students to teachers in turn, by returning to rural schools and shining a light for others. We helped show them new opportunities for moving themselves and their communities forward.

Since my time working with PACERS, I have had other job opportunities, but always employment of the same or similar nature. As I look back, it seems everything I learned from PACERS programs groomed me for future jobs and positions I would be afforded the chance to hold.

Continued page 8

Sgt. 1st Class Ozzie Pugh is a Retention Non-Commissioned Officer for the Alabama Army National Guard.

Those desktop publishing skills, along with the training PACERS provided in journalism, proved to be key attributes when I was hired on at The Birmingham Times, a privatelyowned paper.

During my time there, Fred and I redesigned the templates and layouts to boost sales and attract a younger audience, all while maintaining the newspaper’s graphic integrity.

I worked at the Times for almost 10 years before landing a job closer to my home in Tuscaloosa with JVC (at the time a local DVD/CD manufacturer).

When I was offered the job, they were impressed by my knowledge of QuarkXPress, Illustrator and InDesign — software I was already proficient with because of PACERS. I worked at JVC for five years as the graphic artist for their printing department.

For me, PACERS was a rebirth, a path to finding the next-level “me.” Through my continued work with the organization and its staff, I gained valuable social skills. I used those skills in interviews, in workshops with teachers, in discussions with principals of schools in the program.

I learned to listen to their stories and interests, and to find the niches where PACERS could provide critical assistance in production.

Years later, although I could not foresee what the future might hold, or how those skills and some of those very same schools might come full circle, I joined the military and went on to become a recruiter for the Alabama Army National Guard.

The decision to join the National Guard felt right, it felt like me. And looking back, it also felt like PACERS.

To me, it was an opportunity to serve my community, state and country, while focusing on my hometown and my family’s future.

I would even say PACERS and the Guard are like cousins, if you look deeply at both organizations and understand what they truly seek to achieve.

As a recruiter, I revisit those same social skills, listening to the needs of students, schools and staffs. I employ the same skillsets that were presented to me, to help young people reach beyond their perceived limitations – to

help them find that the world has so much more to offer, and for them to offer it in return.

I have been in the National Guard for 20 years now, and I have served two active-duty tours in Iraq and Kuwait. I am a newly promoted E7, a Sergeant First Class.

My job as a Retention NonCommissioned Officer revolves around some of the very same approaches and practices I began to learn almost 27 years ago, as a high

school student in PACERS programs. Whenever anyone asks me about my life and where I am, compared to where I came from, my answer is always the same. I let them know that without my parents, my family and my PACERS family, I would not be where I am today.

I tell them how my biological family and my PACERS family provided experiences, lessons and skills that became guiding lights for future successes.

How to Join the Community Newspaper Network

New member communities are invited to join the PACERS Rural Community Newspaper Network (PRCNN). There are a minimum of three openings for 2021.

The PRCNN is and will be composed of small rural Alabama communities, incorporated or otherwise. Building this network and publishing a local paper are challenging and important undertakings.

Because publishing a newspaper is serious business, the PRCNN seeks members who are

committed to becoming community journalists. And the network aims to provide serious support. New PRCNN members will receive equipment and software essential for publishing, along with access to professional consultants.

More importantly, PACERS will provide members with ongoing opportunities to learn from, share and celebrate their work with fellow PACERS network publishers.

Joining the network means joining PACERS, and that in turn involves establishing a local chapter,

which will serve as the newspaper publisher. Interested communities will receive an application and a copy of PACERS chapter guidelines.

PACERS is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, enabling local chapters to set up bank accounts for the newspaper and other community programs.

For additional information and details, interested community members should contact Dr. Jack Shelton (jackshelton@prodigy.net).

Guest columnist Ozzie Pugh is a 1995 graduate of Coffeeville High School.

— Dr. Jack Shelton, PACERS executive director and founder