Published: July 26, 2008 01:02 am            

Last stop - Exit 72 (part 2)

Five years ago this month Nanette and I moved to Pauls Valley and began our lives as an empty nest couple.

The summer of 2003 marked some major changes for us. First, our daughter Liz graduated from high school. She was the last of our children to leave the house.

Then we moved to Pauls Valley to begin new careers.

Of course my new job was this one, publisher and managing editor of the Daily Democrat. Nanette began working for the OSU Extension Center.

A few months before that we were driving to PV to look for a place to live and I was excited about the idea of starting a new column.

I was searching for a new name for the column and was suffering from writer's block as I struggled to come up with a title.

For years my personal column at other newspapers had always been titled "Just A Line More," which I borrowed from an old newspaper publisher long ago. Every newspaper I've worked at since bore a column by that name.

As we were driving down I-35 I kept seeing all of these billboards for Pauls Valley and PV businesses.

Each and every billboard for a Pauls Valley establishment had one distinguishing mark. To get to a particular merchant in Pauls Valley you had to take Exit 72.

After five or six of these billboards it hit me. The new title for my column will be "Exit 72." The name was so fitting in many ways.

First, it's the Pauls Valley exit. This is the exit you must take if you want to see Pauls Valley.

This is the exit to take if you want great catfish, barbecue, Mexican food or world famous pecan pies. If you want to see the largest manually lit fireworks display between OKC and Dallas, you must exit here.

From noodlers to Sooner fans on their way to Dallas for the annual Red River Rivalry, Exit 72 was and is synonymous with Pauls Valley.

Second, it represented the last stop for my Nanette and I. With all of our kids gone from home, we decided this was the last move of our lives.

Pauls Valley would be our permanent home from this point on. And when we made that move five years ago, we took Exit 72 to finalize the transition.

In the past five years Exit 72 - the column - has chronicled the progress and present day history of Pauls Valley.

Such subjects as the Pauls Valley Arts Council, the Toy and Action Figure Museum, the Reynolds Foundation Grant for a new recreation center and PV's Sesquicentennial celebration have been discussed thoroughly in Exit 72.

Without apology I’ve touted the importance and need for the arts in our community and I’ve shared the vision of many others in PV of the great future this community is facing.

After five years of covering events, news and the people of this great city, I can honestly say I believe that Pauls Valley is very much “not your ordinary small town.”

I've showcased some of the great people in this community, especially three dear friends - Tim Smith, Kevin Stark and Tony Leddy.

I've bragged on my Schotzie and how wonderful it is to be married to her and I've also used the column to brag on the staff at the Daily Democrat.

Sadly, this is my last Exit 72 column. Earlier this month I submitted my resignation as the publisher and managing editor of the Daily Democrat.

Nanette and I will still live in Pauls Valley, however it is time for me to seek another page in the newspaper industry.

Thank you to all the readers and friends who have already discovered what the next chapter in our lives will be. Nanette and I are so appreciative of the kind words each of you have sent our way.

It has been such a privilege serving the community as the publisher and managing editor of this paper and I will always treasure my time here.

        

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