TOP STORY OF THE DAY: Special sections full of hidden jewels

If you are a regular reader of this newspaper, you have probably noticed by now that we do a lot of special sections.

About 20 a year of them, by my count. I haven’t experienced all of them in my 11 weeks here but they will all come along faster than imaginable.

The topics may not interest every reader, but I today I want to point out some recent successes and advise you to look at these publications a little closer to make sure you’re not missing anything.

Toward the end of last year, we had special sections on “Letters to Santa” and the Senior Selection on “Christmas Greetings.”

In Letters to Santa, Christina Meyer of our marketing department did the brunt of the massive amount of typing of the many letters we were able to get from schools — from teachers who also deserve a salute for cramming this into their lessons in December.

Some of the letters exposed flaws (such as “I stopped hitting my brother and sister”), while others brought those of us who do not have kids and are not around them much up to date on the newest trends in toys and clothing for youngsters.

There were many cute stories hidden throughout the lengthy section, and I hope you had time to read them. They were worth the time.

The “Christmas Greetings” section was similar, except it featured Christmas memories from several adults in the Clay County community (including one from a newspaper editor whose memories have unfortunately faded over time).

Ivy put a ton of work into that section, and it was also worth it.

Most recently, we had the final installment of the every-other-month” sections called “Ribbon Awareness.”

This one was on drug and alcohol awareness, and the clear star was Brazil’s Shonna Frye — who left out no detail in describing her ascension from being an incarcerated felony drug offender to making a full recovery and being on a new path toward a successful full-time career with Hamilton Center.

Sadly, I made one error among the 2,500 words in the lengthy story I wrote.

When describing why she chose to sell drugs, I mistakenly wrote the phrase “made meth to make money” — when the actuality, as the context provided, was that it should have said “sold meth to make money.”

I apologized to her online for the error, and corrected it on our website.

Her story was one of the most popular ones on our website for last year, even though it didn’t arrive until the final day.

If you didn’t get a chance to read it, you should go take a look. Not because I wrote it, but because of the vivid detail that Shonna relates and the brutal honesty with which she tells her story.

Other notes

• Sadly, the subject of the August version of “Ribbon Awareness” is no longer with us.

Ken Vanatti, who was featured in a story on transplant survivors, unfortunately passed away in December from COVID-19 related issues.

Ken was a friend of mine and a distant in-law. His dad, Chet, had passed away the day before.

Chet’s brother, John, was married to my wife’s Aunt Linda until she passed a few years ago.

I guess that made Ken and I somethings-in-law, but he was an interesting character and I enjoyed the few times I was around him at family graduation parties or other events.

We shared stories about our Cocker Spaniels, and he was never one to back down from a Facebook battle over something he strongly believed in.

Please do everything you can to help stop this stupid virus so we can all go back to our normal lives.

• Modern technology has allowed all three of the Brazil Times newsroom employees the flexibility to work from home when needed.

Ivy had a recent illness that is better, but not totally over with. During her time of staying home while taking new medicine, she was able to use the AnyDesk app to continue to provide outstanding local copy.

You probably couldn’t even tell that sports editor Adler Ingalsbe was in Florida for a week in mid-December, but he was. He still did his page layouts and phone interviews from his in-laws while he and his wife Kelli took their young son (Lincoln) to see her parents for his first Christmas.

While I have fortunately been healthy lately and only have our three dogs to care for, besides my wife, I have also utilized the app.

I have still not yet reversed my sleeping cycle from working nights for several years to become an early riser, and a lot of nights I stay up late and do early preparation for the next newspaper from home.

With AnyDesk (which is free, but of course offers a “premium” level with several useless features), we can input a nine-digit number and immediately be connected to our desktop computers at work.

No need to purchase any of the programs for our home computers or laptops — we can use them as if we were in the Times office building.

The only drawback, which is minimal, is that sometimes I print out something but forget I’m not at home.

It’s patiently waiting for me the next time I come in the office, though......