There’s being impressed and then there’s being overwhelmed. That is how I would best describe the response I have received since moving to Vicksburg and joining the team at The Vicksburg Post.
In meeting after meeting, I have been so amazingly welcomed and graciously given the time to both lay out my thoughts on The Post’s role in this community and get feedback on what The Post means to this community.
Many of the compliments and criticisms have gone a long way in helping shape what you will see in The Post over the coming weeks and months.
It is my hope those who have shared their thoughts with me will see that we are listening, that we are working to always improve and find ways to better serve this community.
And it is that word, serve, that is the focus of what we do.
I have always believed that a community newspaper, whether it be in Vicksburg, Miss. or Gulf Shores, Ala., is not the property of or owned by someone. Instead the newspaper is the community’s; the owners and operators of the newspaper are simply the stewards of the newspaper and are given a great responsibility in producing a newspaper that both serves and encourages its community.
Already you have seen us launch a series of articles each week that highlight local educators, unsung heroes, community servants and local businesses.
This week, you saw a special section of the newspaper that worked to recognize local veterans. During the production of that section, Post photographer Justin Sellers took portraits of about a dozen local veterans and then worked to collect more than a hundred more photos that appeared.
But there are also things we are doing that you may not find in the pages of the newspaper, but that are near and dear to our mission of serving the community.
In addition to sponsoring a number of civic events and organizations, we are joining this week with the Outlets of Vicksburg to support the Vicksburg Challenge (#vicksburgchallenge), which is an effort to raise awareness of the annual Red Kettle Campaign of the Salvation Army. More information about that program will be in Friday’s edition of The Post.
You will also see members of our staff ringing the bell at a Salvation Army Red Kettle this Saturday at the Outlets and again later in the Christmas shopping season at Walmart.
These are just a few examples of what we are doing and plan to do, but today, I challenge others to get involved. The more businesses, organizations and individuals who join together, the bigger impact that we have of finding solutions to our problems and affecting positive change in our community.
I am proud to live in Vicksburg and it has become a place my wife and I are blessed to raise our three children and call home.
As for The Vicksburg Post, we are proudly produced and printed in Vicksburg each and every day and it is our mission to not only the best possible newspaper for Vicksburg, but be the very best community cheerleader and partner possible.
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Tim Reeves is publisher of The Vicksburg Post and can be reached by email at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-636-4545 ext. 122.