Opinion

Wanted: Your submissions

Friday, November 23, 2012

We make a continuous effort at connecting with you, our readers. But often we need your help to do that.

To cover Fort Scott and Bourbon County, it takes a Herculean effort.

We have an excellent staff and one that is dedicated to providing you with accurate, timely and useful information.

Yet it's hard for us to be everywhere.

That's where you come in.

We're asking for reader submissions.

You can help us reach and cover areas that often don't get the attention they deserve, despite our best intentions.

We're interested in your personal submissions -- weddings, engagements, anniversaries, births, graduations, military recognition, business honors and achievements, student achievements and honors, anything that's important to you and that you would like to share with the public.

We want to know about your community events and activities. We'd love to include them in our community calendar. While we may not get to your event to take photographs, we'd also like to encourage you to send us your snapshots.

With our print edition and our website, people love to see photos of their family, friends and neighbors.

From your family reunions to citywide events, please send them to us.

We're also working to profile our social and civic clubs and organizations.

If you have new officers, members involved in a community fundraiser, notable member achievements, a visit from the district governor, or a special speaker at that week's meeting, all make good material for us.

Competitive sports and recreational events involving all ages are plentiful in our towns and schools and are important to our communities. Sports and the arts often tie us together and frequently provide the hub around which many social interactions take place.

Dance, gymnastics, band, music, drama, karate, golf, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, softball, volleyball, cross country, wrestling, track and swimming -- the list goes on, with youth and adult leagues, clubs, middle school and high school, college, and recreational leagues all offer a creative outlet that we want to share.

We're taking this same approach with our schools, meeting with administrators as we seek to provide news and information of the dedicated educators working with our children and the various achievements, honors and recognition of students and staff.

Our area churches provide a framework for religious pursuit and socialization.

A community is often characterized by its volunteer and selfless endeavors and our churches provide a foundation for such outreach.

This is another area we'd like to expand.

We'd like to hear from you and your church, big or small, about what's going on.

If you have a new youth minister, if your church is hosting a revival or a special event, expanding your outreach or physical location, we'd like to know about it.

We attempt to list all churches in our immediate coverage area. Many churches have special services recognizing their leaders or members of their congregation. There are often events centered on the holidays that would be worth noting.

We have forms available and we'd love to hear from you, your group's achievements and goals, fundraisers, and officers.

We also have forms online at our website address, www.fstribune.com, that are available.

It's our intent to provide the information that you, our readers, look for and want. And you can help us.

Items such as these will help us keep everyone informed on what's happening in our communities.

If you're uncertain what we need, call Editor Ruth Campbell at 223-1460.

You can email rcampbell@fstribune.com with your submissions. You should also copy one of the following people as well, Laurie Sisk (news), Jason Silvers (news) or Scott Nuzum (sports), just to take into account people who might be out ill or on vacation -- lsisk@fstribune.com or jsilvers@fstribune.com or snuzum@fstribune.com as we don't want to miss your submission.

Thanks in advance for your contributions.

Floyd Jernigan is the publisher of The Fort Scott Tribune.