I began my journey to Bolivar from Columbia on a cold and muggy Thursday morning in hopes of warmer weather and an enjoyable five-day stay. After three hours of narrow and bumpy roads, a couple wrong turns, and a roadblock causing a 20-minute detour, I had arrived. I was unsure about a lot of the specifics that would go into me working for the Bolivar-Herald Free Press, but it involved some writing so I knew I would enjoy it.
Upon arrival, Publisher Dave Berry took me on a tour around town. During the tour I noticed the friendliness of the town; nearly every person waved and smiled as we drove by. This might not be news to any of you, but coming from a significantly larger town in Saint Joseph, Mo., and spending the last several years in Columbia, Mo., it was something that I was not use to. I felt that this simple gesture set the tone for the rest of my experience in Bolivar.
My first assignment was to attend the Board of Aldermen meeting and do a story on the new Alliance Football League team coming to town, the Southwest Missouri Venom. I’m a sports guy that is use to press conferences, so the Aldermen meeting was the first city meeting of any kind that I had been to. It was interesting to see the format and how the town deals with different issues. One issue of particular interest was a highly disputed airplane hangar lease agreement that a couple citizens in attendance were not fond of. Part of the issue was resolved, but the hostility leading up to the verbal agreement between the two parties was enough to make me interested in the topic; and I could not have told you what an airplane hangar was before the meeting.
On my second day in Bolivar I was able to do an interview for a story about a young head chef at Southwest Baptist University, whose passion for her field was truly inspiring to this young journalist. Afterward I was hungry, naturally, so I headed over to the local Sonic for a bite to eat and was blown away by the hospitality and amazing service, so much so that I went back two more times during my stay.
On Saturday I road tripped with sports editor, Bill Breshears, to Clinton to watch the Dadeville boys clinch their second straight trip to the state semi-finals. I shot video of the game and spent my Selection Sunday putting it together to be viewed on the newspaper’s website.
There is much more to tell about my short-lived stay in Bolivar and it is mostly all good, I promise. But I only had so much space, which is a good thing for you, reader, because I tend to ramble. I witnessed my first town meeting. I met a young and inspiring chef and witnessed the best fast food service that I can recall. I saw a town of less than 200 come together to celebrate the excellence of its boy’s basketball team. I learned the interests of a friendly golf course manager on a cold rainy day. I also learned how a community newspaper runs along the way, which I guess was the point of my trip here, but I know I’ll take much more than that with me. Thanks Bolivar, I enjoyed it.
