Every day on Page A4 of the Vicksburg Post, you can find a list of the people who help produce this newspaper. Fine, hard working folks all, if I do say so myself.

There are about two dozen names on the list, but it’s far from complete. There are dozens more who provide us with information, send us pictures, or just point us in the right direction from time to time.

Those are people like Cindy Patterson and Stan Morgan, dedicated parents who keep an accurate scorebook at their children’s softball games and pass the information on to us. People like Paul Ingram and Walter Frazier, both talented amateur photographers who have provided us with hundreds of great pictures over the years without ever asking for a dime in return.

Football coaches like Josh Morgan, BJ Smithhart, Marcus Rogers and Wayne Lynch, who we sometimes call after tough losses when they’d probably rather not talk to anyone. Their honesty, courtesy and professionalism allows us at The Post to do our job well.

Scores of coaches in other sports, like Aimee Scribner, Matt Gullett, Mathew Mixon, Scott Mathis and Bruce Ebersole fall under that category as well. Good news or bad, they’re accessible and understand that it needs to be reported one way or the other.

This is National Newspaper Week, when we celebrate the role of newspapers in the United States and society. A paper our size is classified as a “community newspaper,” meaning it focuses on its local area and works its community into the process wherever possible.

As you can see, we rely heavily on it.

We in the newspaper world, and likely you in the readership world, probably take it for granted sometimes that the information is out there somewhere. That’s not always the case. Without our boots on the ground — whether it be a statkeeper, a volunteer photographer, or just a coach with a cellphone and a really good memory — all we might be able to provide is a score. Hardly enough to fill up a section and provide the community we serve with the information and context it wants and needs.

So thank you, from the bottom of my heart and from all of those here at The Vicksburg Post, to all of those who literally answer the call.

When I say we can’t do it without you, I mean it.

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Ernest Bowker is a sports writer. He can be reached at 601-619-7120, or via email at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com