To the readers and supporters of our newspaper,
As one door closes another one opens…
For the past 27 years and 4 months, I have, most mornings, walked through the doors of the Bellefontaine Examiner as part of my job. As the days turned into months and then years, walking through those doors gave me time to reflect on the people who have come and gone, all working to deliver news and information to the community with the same goals I had. While the doors have recently—and quite quickly—changed, almost as quickly as the industry itself, I still feel a deep sense of pride and joy in having fulfilled my responsibilities and expectations in my role.
Without these people, I would not have been able to do what I feel I was meant to do for the Examiner and our readers. It has always been about them. As this latest transitional period takes over my life, and theirs, I can’t help but feel immense appreciation for everyone who helped me along this path—and for the privilege of doing this work for over two decades. Today, I confidently believe I (we) have been great servants to the Logan County area, and, in some small regard, I have left my latent fingerprint on the history of the printing industry as an integral employee of the Bellefontaine Examiner. Even though most of this work was done behind the scenes and many of you may not have known me personally, please know that I knew you, and it was an honor to serve you all.
In closing, I am grateful to the Hubbard family for providing this incredible opportunity; it will not be forgotten. I would also like to thank my friends, co-workers—both past and present—and my family, who have helped me along the way to get to this place where we are today.
But above all, I want to give special recognition to my wife, who has been there through all of this, offering unwavering support and encouragement through countless good times and bad over the years. Without you by my side, I would never have made it this far or felt this kind of emotion and satisfaction, knowing from where it all started and where it is ending today. You are a beacon in my life I never saw coming.
So, for now, I close the door on this chapter of my life and look forward to opening a new one, for hopefully someone as generous and loyal as you all have been. And who knows—maybe, for as long as I have been able to do this for you…
Sincerely,
–Steve Smith, Production Manager, Graphic Artist, Tech Specialist, IT, Etc, Etc.
I started my Examiner career in August of 1982 as a proofreader and retired in August of 2024 as the circulation manager.
Over those 42 years, I can think of many exciting, funny and memorable Examiner moments, such as a co-worker’s water breaking in the newsroom, my boss’ wife phoning him on 9/11 with the news of the planes hitting the twin towers with his reply to her being “what movie are you watching?!” and the Playboy Bunny’s husband being shot just a block from the office, to mention a few.
I would have an eight-page paper filled front to back if I mentioned every memory and I’m sure I have probably forgotten just as many. The end of the Examiner is equivalent to the death of a member of my extended family because that’s what it was, family. A major thread in the tapestry of my life. I thank you for the memories.
–Jill Thomas, Retired circulation manager
“The only thing certain in life is change,” remarked Miriam Baier, who retired as editor in 2019, following a career with the paper that spanned portions of five decades.
“The paper was just beginning a transition from stories written on typewriters to cumbersome computers when I started. The newsroom was a bustling hub of activity with many visitors who shared information as well as a cup of coffee, some laughter and a cigarette if one was so inclined, and many did then. Cigarette (and cigar) smoke and printing ink made an easily recognizable aroma that stuck with you.
“I tried to follow in the big footsteps Tom Hubbard and Gene Marine left, and I know I stumbled often, but asking myself how they might do something often guided my own path as I traveled circuitous routes with some detours along the way, as well as routine treks.
“My relationship with the Examiner began long before I started working there in 1979. My parents read it daily, and among my earliest memories are of my Mom folding the paper to fit the wide arm of her chair so she could do its crossword puzzle nightly after supper. I will miss carrying on that tradition, as well as asking, ‘Is the paper here?’”
– Miriam Baier, Retired editor
Philosophical Musings
Farewell to a community gem
With a heavy heart and a rusty pen, I sit to write this final tribute to an institution, which has helped shape not only my life, but the life of the community we all call home.
Nearly 40 years ago, the autumn of 1987 to be exact, I took my first job with the Bellefontaine Examiner as a newspaper carrier, delivering the daily paper to homes along east Sandusky and Columbus avenues and the surrounding neighborhoods. Carrying the newspaper was an opportunity that instilled a solid work ethic and sense of entrepreneurship in countless youths over the decades.
After graduating college with a degree in philosophy, of all things, I returned to Bellefontaine and heard the Examiner was hiring someone to help put out the Millennium Edition, which was an epic look back at the local news of the 20th Century. I can still recall that nervous interview with Janet and Tom Hubbard, along with Joyce Yoder and then editor, Fred Harris.
I am pretty sure I would have been a shoe-in for the job if my hair was a little shorter, but despite the fact that I was a long-haired hippie, the Hubbards saw fit to give a local boy a chance at his first career. Mrs. Hubbard would remind me fondly over the years how pleased she was that she had chosen to look beyond my bushy mane to bring me into the Examiner family.
I feel fortunate to have been able to interview T.E. Hubbard for the Millennium Edition and hear his colorful stories about being raised in a newspaper family in a tight-knit community like Bellefontaine.
I could fill countless pages of newsprint with recollections of my days at the Examiner, covering wild village council meetings, digging into investigative journalism, photographing children enjoying our community festivities or stirring the pot with controversial commentaries on the hot topic of the day.
But what I remember more than the stories are the people who shaped the news — the heroes and heroines who made altruistic sacrifices to help their fellow Logan Countians, the faithful public servants who guided our city and county through tough decisions, the business leaders who spurred economic growth and revitalized an aging downtown, the local athletes who inspired us with their victories and the scores of other people I had the pleasure to interview and work with over the years.
And of course, there are all the people who helped make the daily newspaper over the decades — the entire Hubbard family; John L. Sullivan and the motley crew in the pressroom back in my paperboy days; my neighbor Bob Roberts, who faithfully walked to work in the production department for six decades along with faithful copy editors Martha Cox and Jane Hiett; Miriam Baier, Gene Marine, and all the other esteemed editors who came before them; photographer and man-on-the-scene Byron “Scottie” Scott; and the numerous fellow writers, photographers, graphic designers, advertising and front office people I worked with over the years.
It was a good ride. But as history has demonstrated time and again, nothing lasts forever — not even a long-standing community institution like the Bellefontaine Examiner.
It is certainly a sad day as we say goodbye to our newspaper for local journalism helps create an enlightened society. I see the impact of artificial intelligence on our society and fear that it is taking away our ability as members of the human race to think critically and creatively about the world around us.
While information is now at our fingertips, we seem to be losing touch with the people closest to us and the community that we live in. The loss of our newspaper is just another casualty in this trend that our society is experiencing.
Perhaps one day, the spirit of local journalism will re-emerge in our community, but today we pay pay our respects to the loss of a valuable gem that illuminated the residents of Bellefontaine and Logan County for 134 years. Reuben Mees was an Examiner paperboy, news reporter, photographer and assistant editor through 2018. Despite his love for local journalism, he is now employed as a network engineer for the local office of Aunalytics, Inc.
_________
My first thoughts after hearing the announcement were, “Wow. After nearly a century and half of printing a newspaper, it’s over.”
It’s an unfortunate reality of today’s digitally-driven media market and Internet accessibility. Still, it is a loss for the community.
Sound bites and video shorts don’t provide the depth of coverage or opportunity to digest the information in a well-crafted article that some issues and events require. During my 26 years of full-time work and the subsequent part-time years, I think the paper’s staff put out some good work.
We were consistently recognized by our peers as quality writers and, at one time, every member of the newsroom has received at least one writing award. We covered in ways no one else would the restoration of the Holland Theatre; 2012 derecho and the Logan County Courthouse renovation that followed; downtown Bellefontaine’s renaissance; the Indian Lake flooding and the more recent tornado; and the ice storm that paralyzed Bellefontaine for days and weeks.
Staff also covered local government, courts, school boards, Honda and its subsidiaries, community events, graduations and, last but not least, the Logan County Fair. The paper also did not shy from poking the establishment when necessary. It was challenging, but we did it. I just wonder who’s going to do it now.
–Joel E. Mast, Retired reporter, current part-time correspondent
When I took a news reporter job at the Bellefontaine Examiner in 2007 at the age of 22, I had no idea how much it would shape the future course of my life.
I had just graduated from Ohio Northern University with a degree in journalism, and was excited to put my writing skills to work in my new career field. A native of Columbus, I was nervous to move to a new town where I didn’t know a soul, but that quickly changed. I was very much embraced by my fellow staff at the paper, really a second family to me, and by the wonderful and caring people in Bellefontaine and surrounding Logan County.
Sue Pitts took me under her wing right away and helped me learn the ropes at the paper, and quickly became a friend who I knew I could trust. Joel Mast helped to acquaint me with the police department and crime reporting, and I’ve been grateful to still work with him to this day.
I learned a lot in those early years, about writing on a deadline and how it got my adrenaline going a little bit on those early mornings, covering my beats, conducting interviews and developing relationships, and getting to know a whole new community. I’m grateful to our longtime editor Miriam Baier for being a mentor to me as I grew into this role, and for encouraging me as a working mom in the years that would follow.
Nate Smith joined the staff as a fellow reporter, and has proved to be a fast friend, and I also loved working alongside Reuben Mees when he joined our newsroom again. We had a dynamic news staff at that time and each day brought new stories and issues to tackle.
The Examiner’s last full-time photographer, Doug Loehr, also quickly made an impression on me, with his hilarious stories and his antics, and his love for photography and covering our community.
During my first few days working at the paper, little did I know that Doug told his wife, Gina, that he’d met their son Andy’s future wife. Lucky for us, father’s intuition proved 100 percent correct in this situation, and about two years later, Andy and I started dating, and in 2011, we got married during July.
Sadly, Doug passed away unexpectedly just a few months before our wedding date, but I’m ever so grateful for my father-in-law’s special influence on our lives and the legacy he helped to create.
Our little family has grown in the years that have followed, and my fellow Examiner staff have come alongside us during milestone moments, including surprising me with a baby shower for our first son, Everett, in 2014. Then during 2017, the Examiner and our community supported Andy and I during a most trying time, when Everett, age 3, suffered a number of serious complications and he was in critical condition following open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
However, our little heart warrior miraculously pulled through that ordeal and is now a fifth-grader at Bellefontaine Intermediate, and a big brother to our youngest son, Landon, age 7.
The Examiner staff has been smaller in recent years, but also resilient and dedicated. It’s been a real blessing to work alongside all of our full-time employees, each of whom I count as my friends. Steve Smith, Jim Strzalka, April Redmond, Heather Hart and Mike Frank – we’ve made an amazing team that has kept this longtime institution afloat during challenging times in the print industry. The tireless efforts of our longtime sports editor, Matt Hammond, who moved to Columbus about a year ago, was a driving force behind our longevity as well.
Our freelance writers and contributors Sharyn Kopf, Tom Stephens, Joel Mast and Nikki Burkhamer have played an important role in providing fresh content and covering meetings, court hearings and trials, and other happenings that impact Logan County.
Each day still brings new adventures at the paper, and I’ve loved the chance to cover so many interesting developments in our community, including the recent marquee installation and celebration at the Holland Theatre, touring Honda’s EV hub at the Marysville Auto Plant and checking out the progress on the new Logan County Animal Shelter.
Thanks to the Hubbard family for this amazing opportunity that has shaped me and my life in so many ways. It’s a chapter I’m sad to close out, but I’m feeling most fortunate for this community that I love to call home.
–Mandy Loehr, Staff writer/reporter
Building customer relationships and creating community-based publications were some of my favorite parts of the job. There was no better feeling than having a customer “hand over the reins” to their advertising placement and budget. I had many customers that would provide the theme for the week, month or quarter, and then allow me to create and place their copy. It is all about relationships. Always has been and always will be.
Local copy content and ads are what make a local newspaper. “The Best of Logan County” contest and publication were all about local. Community involvement via voting, followed by a local publication highlighting the best that Logan County has to offer. Both ads and copy exclusive to Logan County. I truly believe this was one of the most effective local campaigns.
All in all many fond memories. I learned a lot during my tenure at the Bellefontaine Examiner.
–Bob Chapman, Former advertising director
My hardest day was the day after the March 2024 tornado hit Indian Lake. Witnessing all the destruction to the community and its residents.
However, this also led to my best memory — working to publish our 2024 Indian Lake Guide. Putting together stories of how Indian Lake rose from this disaster with real sense of community and pride. How volunteers and businesses worked to feed those in need and clean up the aftermath.
–Jim Strzałka, Advertising director
My life has been all over the place. I’ve lived in eight states and moved 48 times. I never took the SAT because I started at a small community college and worked my way up. That led to three more schools and three different majors and yet I never technically graduated.
Twenty years after the last one—Grace College in Indiana—I worked with the registrar’s office and, long story short, eventually received my diploma in the mail. And though I’m a right-brain creative, I earned a bachelor of science degree because it was either that in one year or another four years of a foreign language.
The major I ended up with—communications—led to a variety of jobs in radio, TV, public relations, marketing, theatre, freelance writing and editing. I’ve published five books and co-authored several more. And I don’t know how many I’ve edited.
Like I said—all over the place. But interspersed through it all has been a love for journalism. Being a reporter combines my passion for writing with my extroverted, inquisitive nature. Tell me a story and I’ll want to know more. My dialogue lives off of who, what, when, where and why.
When I moved to Bellefontaine in 2013, I had one good freelance job and a substitute teacher license. It paid the bills. Barely. More freelance work came and went until, in the summer of 2021, I saw an ad in the Examiner for a part-time reporter. I sent in my resume and waited.
Apparently, that email didn’t go through. Finally, in February 2022, I interviewed and was offered the job. And I’ve loved being a part of this long-established newspaper ever since.
Unfortunately, just under the surface of the work was the always growing realization that things are changing. Grizzled, cigar-chomping reporters haven’t been around since Clark Gable. The bustling newsroom where you debate ideas and spark conversations about what stories to follow are a thing of the past.
It’s all moved online to Google searches and social media posts. And now with AI, it’s hard to know what’s real.
So, I’ll do something different. I’m not sure what yet, but I would like to keep pursuing local stories and getting out the news to the Logan County community. I just don’t know what that looks like yet.
But I’m willing to find out.
Thank you, Bellefontaine Examiner. It’s been a short but wonderful run.
–Sharyn Kopf, Staff writer
