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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country
of West Texas
Opinion
Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Sage
Views
By Smokey Briggs
I don't need all
that; I've got a Jon...
You really don't appreciate something, until you don't have it any more.
There is a lot of truth in that trite old saying.
I was reminded of how much truth those words contain a few weeks ago when
our managing editor, Jon Fulbright, took his customary two-week vacation.
The Enterprise is a small shop — the smallest daily newspaper in
Texas.
Everyone has to pull more than a full load. We feel it when any member
of the team is missing.
But filling Jon's shoes at the Enterprise is a job for an editor of Paul
Bunyan proportions.
Jon's many assignments go so smoothly when he is here, 50 weeks out of
52, you can forget just how much he does.
Jon keeps the computers working. Jon maintains the network. Jon makes
sure the Associated Press satellite feed is up. Jon fixes it when it goes
down. Jon assigns the stories. Jon writes many of them. Jon takes pictures.
Jon scans pictures. Jon edits all the copy and then plans the layout.
Did I mention that he is also the sports editor? At any other daily newspaper
in the world the sports guy is a full-time position.
Did I mention he is also the news editor? Most daily newspapers have a
full-time news editor too.
Jon wear's a lot of different shoes around here, and every pair is big.
Well my shoe size is not a Paul Bunyan ten-and-a-half, and my feet are
sore.
I'm glad Jon is back. Really glad.
Occasionally, I sneak off to conferences where there are other publisher-type
guys. "Getting the job done without enough people" is a topic that always
comes up.
Eventually somebody will ask how big the Enterprise is, how many staff
members we have, etc....
The conversation that usually follows reminds me of a scene from the first
"Crocodile Dundee" movie.
Near the end of the movie, when Dundee's tavern buddies are coming to
the rescue, a little scrawny friend of the hero is sitting on the ground
having a beer when a burly bad guy shows up with a gun.
"You should have brought a gun," the bad guy says.
"I don't need a gun mate. I've got a Donk," the skinny bloke says.
"What's a Donk?" the bad guy asks. About that time a mountain of toothless
bar fighter taps the bad guy on the shoulder and clobbers him good.
"That's a Donk mate," the skinny one says to the unconscious bad guy as
he hands a beer to his friend named Donk.
"You really should have a sports editor and a news editor," the publisher
type guys say.
"I don't need all that mates," I tell them. "I've got a Jon."
When it comes down to it, that is all you need.
Jon began his 21st year with the Enterprise back in February. That makes
twenty years of headlines, baseball games, late nights and early mornings
— twenty years of hard work and service.
The Enterprise is lucky to have him. So is Pecos.
Glad your back Jon.
Now get back to work. Everything seems to be broken and I've got publisher
stuff to do, like drinking coffee and, you know, important stuff.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Smokey Briggs is the editor and publisher of the
Pecos Enterprise whose column appears on Tuesdays. He can be e-mailed at:
smokey@pecos.net
Our View
Hot times in Pecos - help keep the fire burning
"There is just nothing to do in Pecos."
How many times have you heard that from friends, neighbors and family?
Well, no matter who you are or how you like to spend your time, Pecos
has a something for you over the next week.
The Golden Girl/Little Miss Cantaloupe Review is Saturday night. The next
night you have Night in Old Pecos.
The Windmill Square Players will perform this year's melodrama on Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday.
Slack performances for the rodeo start on Monday. There is a special night
of bull riding and a dance on July 3rd and then the rodeo kicks
off proper on July 4th and runs every night through July 7
th with a dance every night at the Posse Barn.
Put it all together and you can wear yourself out having fun.
Pecos is boring?
Not around July 4th.
But it may end up that way if attendance continues to drop.
A lot of tireless people have put a tremendous amount of effort into these
events. It takes a lot of work to make any of them happen.
If you are not involved in producing one of these, please show up and
enjoy the show. That is the best "thank you" you can give, and these folks
deserve a pat on the back.
For one week they turn a sleepy West Texas town into a beehive of fun
and entertainment.
Showing up to enjoy it is not too much to ask. It will also help make
sure that we can enjoy these events next year.
Return to top
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
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Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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