By JOE SNEVE
(former) Register Reporter
About 10 months ago, Susan Lynn offered me a position as a reporter at the Iola Register. I wasn’t sure what to think of this little Kansas town, hours from any metropolis and eight hours from my home of 26 years in South Dakota.
I soon learned Allen County and Iola were anything but sleepy. Rich with assets — good people, the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, a college, factories and recreation — it wasn’t long until I started to fall in love.
Every face I encountered treated me with a welcoming kindness that’s hard to find — even after seeing me in drag and a chicken suit within my first two months here. I considered making Iola my permanent home and was happy with the prospect.
Therefore, it is with great sadness that I write this. Today, I ship off back to South Dakota. My fiancee was accepted into the University of South Dakota-Sioux Falls nursing program. When she got the “good” news, we realized I needed to find work there or spend the next two years away from the love of my life. The latter seemed more realistic.
There’s only one daily paper within an hour of Sioux Falls — the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Surely a paper of that size and caliber had no use for a newby reporter like myself.
Still, I had to try. After placing a call to the managing editor of the 50,000 circulation paper, it did, in fact, have a new position to fill — I sent my resume.
Long story, short, I was offered the position.
Home, family, friends and my fiancee: How could I turn that down?
Though I won’t be on hand to see it, I will watch from afar with great anticipation the many great projects underway in southeast Kansas. Sure, the region is plagued with social and economic problems like high poverty, aging schools and drug use, but these problems are not unique. What is unique is the way the community and region are rallying to address concerns. Project 17, Kansas Leadership Center’s Leadership and Faith Initiative and the various community pride groups are a shining example of people coming together to make a difference. Change won’t happen overnight, but I am confident change will come.
Sometimes it’s hard to see the positives in something when you’ve been so close to it for so long. But I assure you, Iola is a gem and never will a negative word about this close-knit community cross my lips.
I did the best I could to make my rounds and say my goodbyes, but surely I didn’t get to everybody. So, this is my farewell, but not for good. I will be back in July, when it’s hot enough to make any man think he could be in South Africa, to defend my crown in the Charlie Melvin Mad Bomber Relay Drag Race.
See you at the starting line.
