By Pat Cheek

General Manager

No we are not closing our newspapers. We are a part of this community and we’re here to stay.

I am hearing rumors concerning our newspapers. They range from going to a weekly publication to closing our newspapers altogether. These are rumors. Untrue gossip. We are here to stay and have been for the long haul. Each of our three area newspapers are over 100 years old, established in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

I personally have been here for going on half the time the Middlesboro Daily News has been established. I began working at the Middlesboro Daily News in August 1977 (oops telling my age now), but I don’t care. I’m proud of the 42 years I’ve put in our newspapers and our community.

This paper and community are my home and part of my family. My children’s birth announcements ran in this paper along with their honor rolls and perfect attendance; news stories of their ROTC and school trips and awards, pictures and articles on their baseball, basketball and football games, track meets, graduations; their wedding announcements and articles on the jobs they are working at; along with my loved ones obituaries.

Now there’s a new generation as my grandchildren are born and begin their lives in our beautiful community and Appalachian Mountains. I feel truly blessed and privileged to work and live here.

I’ve had the pleasure to work with some wonderful individuals during my years at the newspaper. Publishers like Earl Burchfield and J.T. Hurst, who instilled in me the ethics and hard work needed to run a newspaper.

I have had the pleasure and opportunity to meet and work with many community leaders, business owners and professionals who all endeavor to see our community grow and prosper.

Each printing day our newspapers prints the history of our communities. Years from now, the life we are living now will be a part of the history we leave behind. Be a part of that history by sending us your announcement, events and happenings. We want to include your school news, the local t-ball tournament results, your wedding, your new store opening or newly named manager, your club news, city and town news.

If it’s interesting to you, it’s interesting to us and other residents. Send us the info, along with a picture and description of the event. Make what’s going on in your life part of the history of our community.

We are here to stay. This paper and this community are my home. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to make a living working here and raise my three children, who as adults work and continue to contribute to the upbuild of our community. We are an active and involved part of this community and the lives of all our readers and residents.

Let’s build a positive and bright future for our children and grandchildren working together for the advancement of each of us as individuals and as a strong community.