Before Idalia, I drove up to Jasper, Fla., and had a good time looking through the back issues of "The Jasper News." They are bound and, in my humble opinion, at some point in time, Hamilton County should consider having these issues digitalized so they could be accessed on the computer for the sake of those interested in local history or for those who are doing research and, more importantly, to better preserve them.
As I read those back issues, I smiled a lot, laughed out loud from time to time, and shed a few tears as people, places and events played out in my mind, and I could see them and hear them once more.
There are those in this country who would purport that the days of print news and the days of bound books are dead. I don't believe that's 100 percent true, and if one travels outside the United States, say to Great Britain, one would find a lot of bookshops alive and well. One would find many more in the northeast, particularly New England, and in many of the older, established, coastal cities of the south.
Reading has always been a great joy for me, an opportunity to learn about people, places and things I may never have the opportunity to witness first hand, but through books and their great gifts, I could feel I was a part of a lot.
I want to thank our Riverbend News for holding on and doing a good job. It isn't easy, and I know it.
In a day when influencers, the handsome and beautiful or the bizarre and comical, on YouTube and Instagram vlogs, who present an unrealistic world to their viewers and followers, are paid hundreds of thousands a year in money and endorsements, while print journalists who can actually write grammatically correct sentences are given financial remuneration at significantly lower sums, it gives one an idea what is valued in our society and, sadly, "show business" and "cause celebes" rank higher than hard print news.
Thank God we still have a remnant, though, who read the papers, support the public libraries and order books. Keep reading, keep exploring, keep learning and we will all keep living a more fulfilled life and that's the truth.
Thank you to Emerald Greene, Danny Federico and the dedicated staff at Riverbend News. From the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs, wishing you a blessed week.