The wonder and woes of color

The response to the color pages of the Phillips County News last week was incredible. The verdict is in, your votes have been counted and yes, the world looks more wonderful in color.

The only drawback from the color pages last week was the delay in the paper’s delivery. It is a great honor to know that the PCN is looked forward to each week – the fact still leaves my stomach in knots each Wednesday morning. I did all I could to warn people that the paper would be late on Wednesday, but many didn’t get the message and were turned away empty handed but it good humor. In the end, the positive response of the color pages far outweighed the negative response to the paper being late (at about a 10-to-1 ratio) so the good outweighed the bad by a large margin.

I have had at least three dozen people ask me if the paper would be all color, all the time from now on. Unless you are reading my column first, completely bypassing the front page – Hi Mom – you have already noticed that we are back to the doldrums of the bad news, black-and-white-blues. The answer to color question is, at least at this time, no.

I think one of the reasons that my bosses haven’t allowed us to run with color all the time is cost. I know for a fact that it costs more to print in color and that has slowed our move to continue color. Pierre has been texting the bosses, giving them not-so subtle hints that he is in favor of the color pages and that the masses are behind him.

I mostly agree, aside for one small, selfish fact.

The only reason we had a color newspaper last week was because our regular pressman in Glasgow, Stan, went on vacation to Illinois to see his children and grandchildren. Stan runs the press for the Courier and to see him run that old beast is a thing a beauty. He has to thread the paper just right, with a nip here and a slit there. He gives a print plate just the right twist, splash or oil here, dose of oil there before, viola, the big, green monster hisses to life, bells and whistles sound and the pages of the PCN come clanking out of the machine’s belly. The contraption, like the salty guy who runs it, is a throw-back in every sense of the word.

The reason I bring up Stan is because he is the only reason I don’t want the paper in color. To take the print job to Havre would mean taking it out of Stan’s shop and I don’t want to do that. Stan has been a mentor to me in the four months I have been in Phillips County and is always there for me. When I am beating myself up for a mistake, Stan is there to tell me a story of a major screw-up he saw a former newspaper editor make which makes my error seem like a drop in the bucket. On the flipside, when I get a big head, Stan pops the bubble and breaks my chops, bringing me back to reality.

One rainy Saturday morning I got a call at the PCN offices and the gentleman on the other end said:

“Hey, you lousy so-and-such, where the heck is my paper…and why the heck aren’t you out here covering these fires?”

My heart sank into the soles of my shoes.

“Uhhhhhhhh” was all I could manage.

“This is Stan, you goofball,” the voice said. “Stop spending so much time in that office and go home to you wife and daughter.”

He got me. Again. I left work, not to return until Monday.

I know how much everyone liked the color paper and I liked it too. My bosses aren’t looking to change where we print the PCN, for now, but it will happen sooner or later. I know it is a change that everyone wants and I understand why. Ultimately, it is not my decision to make and for that I am thankful.

Thanks and Aloha.