One of the aspects of this job that I enjoy is catching up with everyone in the community. I like being out at events and catching up with people from all sorts of organizations even if the event that we are at has nothing to do with how I came to meet them. And that’s how I see this paper as well.
I have said it before, and will continue to say it, this is your paper. Reader submissions are a big part of the paper being yours. I love being sent a photo with a brief description and hearing from people how glad they are that I was able to get it in and that they had a chance to share that moment with the rest of the readers. Since I began at this position, I have seen the submissions grow and am quite happy about that. Submissions are a great way to get coverage on something that may be missed or happen during a busy time with events and other stories.
This summer there are two things that I would like to try.
The first has to deal with the Fourth of July holiday. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy a good fireworks show. In fact, I just made plans to see a set of fireworks that I am very excited for and just so happens to involve one of my favorite parts of summer which is baseball. I know for a fact that I will be taking plenty of video and photos of this experience. What I would love to do is see where everyone else goes for fireworks.
No matter where you are going to watch a fireworks show, don’t hesitate to snap a photo (or a few) and send them in with a brief description of where you went to see them. My plan is to create an online album as well as get a nice photo spread of where everyone in the area went to celebrate. The plan is for something like we did with the snow photos this year which I think turned out great. Post the photos to either our Facebook page, or send them directly to me at ssingley@berksmontnews.com.
Now the second summer project has to deal with sports. Growing up playing sports, I know that just about every weekend during the summer I was at some type of tournament and during the week nights I was usually at some game. Be it league, travel, tournament or any other type that you can come up with, take a photo (or a few) with a brief description of what is going on including how the team did and send them to our sports editor Ric Webb at edwebb@berksmontnews.com. Be sure to include that it is for The Hamburg Area Item and that brief description.
And of course, as always, don’t hesitate to send me any other types of submissions. Again, this is your paper and I enjoy see everything that is going on in this area. Here’s to hopefully a fantastic summer.
Shea Singley is the editor of The Hamburg Area Item. She can be reached at ssingley@berksmontnews.com. She can also be followed on Twitter @item_editor.