I, personally, am really excited for it. This first issue was a blast to put together!
Speaking for the entire staff (at least, I?ll assume I am), we hope you enjoy the insight into what all is going on at the high school, and we welcome any comments as we continue to learn the ways of a real journalist.
So sit back and enjoy. There?s a particular excellently written article on the top of the front page that I?m sure you?ll love. Don?t ask why.
And now to the regularly scheduled column?.
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This past weekend I did some hard thinking, and I came up with a brand-new motto for the annual Hillsboro Arts & Crafts fair: Neither rain, nor snow, nor death of the night, can keep us from our duty.
Not to start this column off in a clich?-like fashion, but that?s about what last Saturday boiled down to.
OK, maybe ?boiled? is the wrong word.
If your Saturday was anything like mine, I?m sure you are agreeing, because when it comes to the category of Worst Weather to Hold an Arts and Crafts Show In, I?m pretty sure that this year?s event probably hit one of the highest rankings.
It?s unlike me to look at things through morose-colored glasses, but this year?s festival left a little to be desired. (Predominantly heat.)
My day started off as I left the house around 7:00 a.m. It was dark, cold, pouring rain and lightning, and apparently parking suddenly became all but completely illegal within a two-block radius of downtown overnight.
After driving around, I finally found a street that was both free and void of ?Parking by Permit Only? signs, and crawled out of my car.
By this point, I was still in a fairly good mood. I got out of the car, attempted to put a rain poncho on, gave up when I couldn?t find the head hole, and then proceeded to Main Street.
I met an older couple scurrying away from the event, so I smiled and said, ?Good morning.? They looked at me like I was nuts, and scurried away.
Although I didn?t quite understand the bizarreness they saw in my attitude at the moment, I began to figure it out as my Kansas University sweatshirt began to soak through.
I was heading toward the Hillsboro High School Band booth, which was located under the Dale?s Supermarket awning at the middle of the festival.
This is where I spent my first few minutes of the Arts & Crafts Fair: standing under a leaky gutter and playing with a plugged-in power strip. (Shocking, I know.)
I was supposed to be selling cinnamon rolls and coffee at that moment, but due to certain factors (i.e. there was technically no one around), I was allowed to leave.
Dumb move.
A friend and I decided to seek shelter in her mom?s car while we waited for the rain to let up. However, there were two things we failed to take into consideration: (1) her mom?s car was two blocks away, (2) it was raining harder than before.
By the time we reached the car, I was soaked to the bone and slightly cranky.
Of course, as the old saying goes, things can always be worse.
Once 9 a.m. rolled around, the rain was still coming down, and I was now on Trash Detail for the high school choir.
After sitting in a warm vehicle for an hour and a half, the wet and cold came as a shock. So when I noticed Free Press editor Don Ratzlaff pointing his camera in my direction, it was not exactly a Kodak moment.
I spent my morning pushing around trash cans and directing traffic at a parking fund-raiser that I technically was not a part of. However, it did get the blood running through my arms again. And as the day progressed, I was impressed to see the turnout of shoppers and workers, despite the poor (or, more appropriately, pour) weather conditions.
The dedication displayed by so many local volunteers (with the exception of my choir teacher, Lynn, who spent her whole morning standing under an awning giving us choir students directions) showed me one of two things about this town.
Either we are truly dedicated to putting on the best craft show possible, or we?re all completely nuts.
You pick whichever you think fits best.
Editor?s note: The Oracle will be inserted in all issues delivered to zip codes for Hillsboro, Durham and Lehigh residences.
