Young people!
Everywhere you look these days they’re texting, twittering, and writing things like, “25 things you didn’t know about me.”
Why don’t they just talk to each other? But, faithful readers know I like to be “in” so, I’m writing this column about 25 things YOU didn’t know about the newsroom!
1. Everyone keeps at least one toy of some sort on their desk.
2. We display several American flags.
3. Photos of family, pets, and each other are big.
4. Duct tape fixes everything.
5. Our average age is 50.
6. We’re not very good in math, so No. 5 may be off by a month or two.
7. There’s an old dial phone on the back wall that rings occasionally, and we fight each other to answer it. We find this amusing. Seriously, it’s a lifesaver when the power goes out.
8. We celebrate birthdays for weeks at a time.
9. Warren Dillaway boasts a vast collection of Winnie the Pooh items.
10. Some of our signs (Happy Birthday, Congratulations, etc.) we leave up for years.
11. Sports editor Don McCormack sits in the biggest chair.
12. Sports writer Bob Ettinger would win the “neatest desk” award.
13. Conneaut reporter Mark Todd has been with the company the longest.
14. Spontaneous dancing is allowed.
15. Knowing I raise chickens, people bring me dozens of empty egg cartons. They tend to pile up around my desk.
16. Cut-out photos of Bob Lebzelter’s head are stuck throughout the newsroom.
17. At least two police scanners are always on.
18. A mannequin, a water cooler and a mini-refrigerator can be found in our editor’s office.
19. When schoolchildren tour the building, we tell them the old darkroom is where Superman changes his clothes.
20. I believe I’m the only official member of the Bobby Sherman Fan Club. Lebzelter is a Rolling Stones fan. Ellen Kolman and Nicki Wilpula love Donny Osmond.
21. We have no windows in the newsroom, but we have a paper sun hanging from the ceiling.
22. A fiber optic poinsettia plant is our night light.
23. Sometimes, it rains inside when it’s raining outside.
24. The ladies of the newsroom look forward to seeing the UPS delivery man, Phil, every day.
We smile and say in unison, “Hi, Phil!”
He smiles, waves, and we giggle.
25. We’ve had senators, state representatives, governors, teachers, managers, attorneys, local celebrities, fancy folks, families and even a few criminals walk through our door. It’s never dull. It’s always interesting and sometimes it’s fun.
Come see us sometime. We’ll talk.
Now that Star Beacon staff writer Shelley Terry has shared all our secrets, there’s no sense in visiting, unless you stop by on a day when Terry is not here, in which case we’ll share 25 things about Terry Cloth.
Currents
25 things you probably didn't know about the Star Beacon newsroom
- Currents
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Tragedy at McCann’s Crossing
Frank Train had grown wearly of traveling with the Walter L. Main Monster Show, based in Geneva City and Trumbull Township.
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Geneva’s ‘Main’ attraction
Elephants, tigers, lions and horses.
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Railroad, disaster birthed hospital
The Great Lakes shipping industry in the mid-1800s was fraught with losses of both human life and property.
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Locomotive overboard!
In the history of railroading in Northeast Ohio, it was a matter of poetic justice paid forward.
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Was Effie Neely on the Pacific Express No. 5?
Was Effie Neely the last survivor of the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster when she died in 1960 at the age of 101?
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Ashtabula Horror left many interesting crumbs on history’s table
Over the past century, many stories relating to the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster, Dec. 29, 1876, have emerged. Here is a sampling of these tales as we wrap up the first 65 years of Ashtabula County history in our Odd Tales series.
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The Ashtabula Horror
One hundred thirty-five years after the Ashtabula Horror occurred, the facts of the event are well established, yet mists of mystery and stains of shame remain.
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A trial run for death
John D. Rockefeller had never missed a train until Dec. 18, 1867.
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Success born of grief
Grief is a stalker. It lurks in every idle moment, in every familiar corner, always ready to pierce the heart bruised by loss.
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Q.F. Atkins: Man of many talents, hardships
Quintus Flaminius Atkins.
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