It’s more than a job - It’s an adventure!

As a summer intern I did many things, one of those things that I didn’t know I had to go to was the Commissioners Meeting. I had to go to the Commissioners Meeting as a note taking exercise. Many people my age probably don’t know what a Commissioners Meeting is, but I am glad that I had the opportunity to attend a meeting with Bonny. I thought my note taking skills were pretty good, but now I beg to differ. 

Once the Red Lake County Fair came around Bonny and I were very busy. Between taking pictures at scheduled events, like the rodeo and baja, you could say that if you ever saw us running around with our cameras that we looked like chickens with our heads cut off. During the fair it was a lot of fun taking pictures, especially at the rodeo. The RLC Fair’s rodeo was the first rodeo that I can remember that I have gone to and one that I will never forget. Taking pictures was one of the main reasons why I wanted to work at The Oklee Herald and I am glad that I was able to go to the events at the fair to take pictures.

After the fair Bonny was gone for a week and I was in the office by myself. That was the longest week of my life. I was still getting a grasp on how everything works, so I knew certain things, but not everything. Once Bonny came back after that week she told me she would be leaving again for two weeks. You can just about imagine what I thought after she had told me this news. These two weeks went surprisingly well, I didn’t mess up anything to badly. I would do all the normal things and lay out the paper. Those two weeks when Bonny was gone I was able to meet a lot of new people and put names to the faces that I had heard from  Grandma and Grandpa. I liked when people would stop in and tell me that I was doing a good job on the paper because then all was good, I knew then no one was getting mad at me. When Bonny came back after those two weeks I was happy because then there would be someone else in the office in case I needed help.

Also when Bonny came back I had the chance to go to the place where it all happens, Richards Publishing. When people say don’t judge a book by the cover, that  really does apply to Richards Publishing. When we pulled up I saw a small building, but when I got inside it was huge. Richard Richards gave me a tour of the building. It was very interesting to see all the machines and learn some of the businesses that Richards Publishing prints for. I finally got to put faces to names when I met Corrine Richards, Sue Sims, Sue Eck, and Nancy Sundquist. They helped me a lot when Bonny was gone for those couple weeks. 

Last year in school I was in Newspaper, where we write about the school events that are happening and they would get printed on the Mustang Stampede page of the newspaper. I loved seeing my article in the paper, but seeing my articles that aren’t just about school things was the best, and seeing my pictures that I had taken in the paper too. 

Not only did I get to learn about how to lay out a newspaper or the right short cut keys on the keyboard. I also learned more about Oklee. I liked writing The Oklee Early Files because I was able to learn some of the history of Oklee through the paper. I also got to learn more about the Oklee City Council and things that happen around Oklee that I would never have found out if it wasn’t for this job. The thing I am going to miss most about working at the Oklee Herald are the people that come in and say Hi. Whether that be people I don’t even know or Eric Mickelson who always comes in and asks how’s it going and says Hi. 

I owe a big thank you to Bonny. Thank you for hiring me, for having to repeat yourself if I didn’t get something, and for teaching me many things not only on the computer, but about things in life too. Also thank you for trusting me to lay out the papers and write articles for the front page. It was one of those summers that I will never forget.