Volleyball team is fun to watch

Written by Joel Klaassen Tuesday, 16 October 2012 14:04

I thought I should take some time and watch the high school volleyball team since they had a tournament in town this past Saturday.

The balls were white, but I swear I saw some mustard on them when our gals smashed them over the net. Many times the serves were not returned. It was really fun to watch.

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The Hillsboro Community Foundation is soliciting applications for grants that will be given awarded in 2013. Organiza­tions with 501(c)3 status have until Nov. 16 to complete the application form and submit them to the committee.

Just go to the Free Press home page and click on the grant application tile at the top of the page. You will find everything you need to complete the process.

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We had the opportunity to meet our new state representative, Don Schroeder, this past week at the monthly Chamber luncheon.

He seems like a very approachable and thoughtful guy. And it doesn’t hurt that he is a Tabor grad from the Inman area and a farmer.

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Since last Tuesday we have our very own VoIP telephone service at the Free Press. Voice over Internet Protocol, that is.

It can do almost anything except clean the bathrooms. The learning curve is fairly steep but we are getting the hang of it. If you call and then nobody is home, it’s because we accidentally cut you off.

What I really like is that a call to the office number can be transferred to a cell number seamlessly. We will all have our own extension and the number of lines is almost limitless—at least, that’s how I understand it.

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A few of our staff and I just returned from the Midwest Free Community Papers fall conference in Des Moines.

The focus was on sales and how to use social media. The more we learn about Facebook, the more it appears not to be the be-all, end-all method of keeping in touch with the folks you think you are reaching.

Especially for business pages. We were told that posts on business pages may reach only 10 percent of the people who like you. Of course, if you are willing to pay a fee, it may reach as many as 20 percent.

This is not to say you shouldn’t be using it. It just means that it isn’t as good of a communicator as one might hope. Now that Facebook has gone public, it has to make some money.

Its algorithms let through what it thinks your friends are interested in and then stops the rest.

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One of the perks of going to Iowa is that we have a tradition of stopping at Guy and Mae’s Tavern in Williamsburg on the way there.

If you haven’t had the ribs, and you are not close enough to dine in Marion County or at home, then I heartily recommend it.

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We have never been to the Fox Theater in Newton since it has become a venue for bringing in musicians. This weekend blues singer Marcia Ball is going to be there, so we are going to take it in and see how it goes.

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My football teams are getting more fun to watch than ever. High school, college, university teams do not disappoint. Even KU.

If you wish to share your comments or ideas, my e-mail address is joel@hillsborofreepress.com.