Publisher’s Perspective

Scattered musings of a worn-out newspaper man

Posted

Idle thoughts on a Tuesday afternoon in Gonzales, Texas:

--The 2nd Annual Gonzales Inquirer Craft Beer and Wine festival is rapidly approaching. Fifty percent of the VIP tickets have already been sold but there are plenty available for Saturday only. I just wanted to remind everyone that on the days of the event only cash and checks will be able to purchase tickets. There will be no credit card machine at the gate.

--The annual catfish tournament started yesterday, with teams from all over trying to catch The Big Fish. Weigh-in will take place this Saturday at Spankys beginning at 1 p.m.

--I don’t know about you, but I cannot believe next weekend is Easter. Time is just flying and before you know we’ll be in May.

--Erik McCowan, our reporter for over a year, left the paper last week to pursue a few different projects. He is still going to do some freelance work for us and will continue to do our professional videos.

He has been replaced by Garrett McGinley, a trained journalist out of Texas State University in San Marcos. Please join us in welcoming Garrett to the Gonzales Inquirer staff and to our community.

--My son sent me a video this week showing the youngest of my grandchildren, young Theodore James Fitzwater, starting to walk. The parents are starting to realize that this is when all the fun starts because Theo loves to motor and is in constant motion. With my children spread out from Baton Rouge to Richmond to Minneapolis to northern Michigan, I am going to have to make a concerted effort to get out and see them all this summer. I am going to Richmond in early May to watch my oldest daughter launch the new Museum of the American Civil War Museum, and my youngest son is going to join us on the weekend to celebrate his birthday. So I’ll have 50 percent of my children, and 40 percent of my grandbabies there.

This is going to be one happy grandpappy.

--Speaking of visitors, for some reason 2019 appears to be the season of visitors for yours truly. My sister and niece were out here two weeks ago, and I have an old elementary school friend visiting for a few weeks. Her name is Helen Mott, and we attended Holy Name Elementary School together. She was a good girl, the nuns had to pay more attention to my, ahem, conduct while a young lad. She just retired from the public library in suburban Grand Rapids, Mich. after serving there for 45 years. I am sure she is going to want at least one day in our library right here in Gonzales. Wherever I have traveled she has always asked me to take pictures of the public libraries where I was visiting. She asked me to do the same here, but I told her she had to come and visit Texas and she could see it for herself.

--I am going to be out of the office today and tomorrow to attend a South Texas Press Association Meeting in La Grange. I was contacted by the Press Association and told I needed to be there as our newspaper has won a number of awards in the annual STPA better newspaper contest. I am excited to find out tomorrow what we have won.

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