Spend some time with me

We?ve computerized and digitized our lives ? our working lives and our private lives ? to the point of not knowing what our extended families or our friends and neighbors are up to unless we see it on Facebook or whichever social media we check in with periodically throughout the day.

Sixty years ago, you could pick up an edition of The Journal and find out that Mr. and Mrs. So and So traveled from Kansas City, Mo., Friday to celebrate the Fourth of July with family and friends. Miss Pretty Eyes took the bus to Muscatine to do some shopping. Readers could find out who stepped off a passenger train and why that person was in town.

The Braden Club had a homemade ice cream and cake party. Miss Genevieve poured tea from her English bone china.

Journal readers could find out where local military service members were stationed around the world. I receive news from various branches of the military when local service men and women complete basic training. I love relaying that information to our readers. I would like to expand that coverage by having families tell us where their loved ones are serving. A couple of sentences is all it would take to let the greater community know who is serving their country and where they are stationed.

As I was looking through the archives from 1950, I found out that all of the mayors of cities named Washington in the nation were invited to dinner at the White House on a regular basis.

I would like to do lifestyles the way we did it back then, and I?d like to make it easy for people to give me the news. I?m going to start by visiting the businesses around the square up to five times a week. I would love to get tidbits of news from business owners, employees and customers, as well as people who see me in the grocery store or a convenience store or out and about. I often wear my dark blue Journal jacket.

I also want to include everywhere in the county and the communities in our readership area outside of the county. If you had weekend guests or hosted a party you can call me at The Journal ? 319-653-2191 or email me at lifestyles@washjrnl.com.

I would also like to visit area clubs and service organizations, snap a photo and write a brief description of what went on during the meeting or social time.

I haven?t worked out all of the details yet, so this will be lifestyles in progress to see how it goes.

Some of my favorite news to read is the news from area communities and from the United Presbyterian Home and Halcyon House.

I?ve often thought that one of the luckiest people I know solely from the newspaper is Winifred Fritz of Brighton. Her children and grandchildren visit her often and every week our readers can find out which of them have visited her.

So give me a call.

We have a saying at The Journal: Your news is our news. We mean it, and I want to make it more so.