Last year, the staff of The Vicksburg Post kicked off its first Profile magazine ever with “24 Hours in Vicksburg.”

The publication told 24 stories about the people who make Vicksburg work — workers at Shipley’s Donuts, a cop pulling a late shift and beloved custodians at St. Aloysius.

But what was that? What is Profile?

I was at The Vicksburg Post in February when the publication came out, but my work on Profile was put in at my last job, our sister newspaper The Oxford Eagle.

So although my first Profile and Vicksburg’s first Profile both published last year, they were two separate feats. Still, I learned a lot about the publication.

It’s the biggest, best planned and most interesting publication we do each year.

I was talking to our advertising director Angela Ross, who told me she likes the publication because it’s more of a conversation with our readers, which is true.

In Profile, we’re afforded the special opportunity to tell stories we wouldn’t normally have the space to tell in the newspaper, or they may not fit the typical mold of a news story.

Late last summer, I got to be a part of a meeting to determine what the theme of this year’s Profile would be.

As we sat at 10South overlooking the water, it quickly became very obvious we needed to devote the magazine to the Mississippi River.

The river impacts so much of this town, from the jobs and tourism to culture and recreation, we knew we’d have more than enough content for this undertaking.

The publication will feature stories on the Mississippi rivers course taught at the high schools, historical landmark and hunting trove Davis Island and how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have managed the Mighty Mississippi through the years.

Though we’ve been making steady progress for the past half year or so, it’s really crunch time now, and as would be expected given the current state of the Mississippi River, many of our river sources have been increasingly difficult to get in touch with. Photography assignments have also been a challenge with some stories.

Just as the rising river affects many of you in your daily lives and jobs, it too affects the staff at The Vicksburg Post, even if it’s because of a decision we made last summer.

Still, it’ll work out in the end, and we’ll have another stellar product to be proud of.

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Austin Vining is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. You may reach him at austin.vining@vicksburgpost.com.