Couch
By SUZANNAH COUCH, editor
By the time Saturday morning rolled around, your dedicated newspaper editor was exhausted.
The grey overcast skies matched my mood, honestly.
It was the Saturday following an election week. Just a few days prior I had worked 14 hours managing our coverage of the primary election for the first time ever as editor.
The week prior to that I put in long days going back through the last year and a half of newspapers, picking out the best stories, headlines and photos with the hope we bring home even more awards from the Hoosier State Press Association Better Newspaper contest this fall.
After going through pages of print it was time for the fun task of tracking down those pages in PDF form then submitting them online and writing letters of support for some contest categories.
Long story short, I was already tired heading into election week.
Fast forward to the Saturday morning after Election Day and I could barely drag myself out of bed. But I did. After a shower and making myself look somewhat presentable, I made the journey back to town, back to my newsroom — or as I have lovingly called it since taking over as editor, ‘my second home.’
I grabbed my camera and ran out the door down to Van Buren Street.
I have stood in this spot many times before — at the corner of Main and Van Buren — awaiting the arrival of that bright yellow banner carried by Brown County Lions Club members each spring that always signifies the Spring Blossom Parade was heading our way.
I walked around as I waited. I hugged some of my best friends and their little ones. I snapped a few photos of my youngest nephew Maxwell as he waited for his big brother Alexander to walk in the parade with his Cub Scout troop. I waved and smiled my way down the block in front of the Brown County Courthouse.
Suddenly, I did not feel as exhausted anymore. I felt invigorated. I had a very special task that day: to capture the smiles and cheer the Spring Blossom Parade brings each year. There had not been a parade the last two years due to the pandemic, so you could feel the excitement of our community to be able to take another step into post-pandemic normalcy.
Unlike years past it was just me and my camera capturing as many moments as possible. Not an easy task.
Long gone were the years where we had three different photographers taking the best angles of the parade along its route from Brown County High School back down to Van Buren Street. It was just me. My amazing reporter-photographer Abigail had another commitment that day, so the coverage was left up to me. The job of an editor is never done.
I am no stranger to this parade, so I was not worried about covering it, I had just hoped I had enough energy to make it happen to my standards.
But as the parade continued on and I was able to smile and wave to so many in our community I was energized. I could have taken photos for another two hours, at least!
This community is my home. I felt that even more as I recognized 75% — or more — of the folks walking in our parade, handing out candy and sharing happiness.
This is why I do what I do. This is why I dragged myself out of bed early in the morning on a Saturday after working a long week.
Brown County, I see you, I respect you and I admire you. It is my honor to capture these moments that will be in our history forever.
You have been patient as we worked through this transition of leadership in the newsroom. I know I have made some of you unhappy with decisions I have made or coverage I have given a certain topic. I read Facebook comments — a lot. Although it stings when you feel as if your best is not good enough for certain people who maybe think they can do it better, these moments on a Saturday afternoon in downtown Nashville make up for it.
Because I know —- by the smiles I received along that parade route from individuals of all backgrounds — that a lot of you respect me, this newspaper and the work we are doing. This is not an easy time to be a journalist. Some think they can do the job better or do not trust us at all, so thank you for smiling at me and making me feel even more a part of this community.
As the parade ended the sun began to shine, just in time to match my mood.
Suzannah Couch is editor of the Brown County Democrat. She can be reached at [email protected].
