This week is one in the year where everyone young and old is posed the same question, “What are you thankful for?”
When I answered this question in years past, it tended to be pretty monotonous. I’m thankful to have a job, have the love of my family and to be generally surviving the world as it is.
This year, however, my answer is a little more enthusiastic, though it draws from the same areas.
I have never been more thankful for my position than I have been this year. The opportunity to purchase the Cassville Democrat in January was something I never saw coming, and making the leap into entrepreneurship is a decision I will never regret.
I saw a social media post the other day showing a scene from the movie “Birdbox” where Sandra Bullock’s character is rowing a canoe through a whitewater river blindfolded. The caption read, “Management at my job any time I tell them exactly what is wrong.”
I laughed at it, but for a different reason. Jordan and I are living proof if you can diagnose problems and present solutions, you will find opportunity. When CherryRoad purchased us last year and I noticed some things going awry, I spoke up.
It is for that reason they felt we would make good local newspaper owners, and I’m forever thankful to CherryRoad for facilitating the sale of the paper and giving us an opportunity to serve the community in the best ways possible.
I hear day-in and day-out from our readers and area residents they have noticed a change in the Democrat since we took over, and I’m thankful for that, too — not only that they are most always complimentary and appreciative, but even that they have noticed.
Building the Democrat into an informative and entertaining news media product is a process that takes more than money. It takes time, hard work and sacrifice. To have that opportunity and to be rewarded by the community with such positive feedback is something I am very thankful for, and I welcome any feedback (positive or negative) that will help us progress in our goal to make this newspaper the best it can be.
As I am thankful for my job for new reasons this year, I am equally thankful for my family. The Democrat would not be doing as well as it is without my wife. While I was taking on more responsibilities in the ownership change, they all related to things I had already done in the past.
Jordan, on the other hand, essentially took on a whole new position. She had to learn how to do bookkeeping, how to properly process our legal printing and affidavits, how to distribute each week to our 23 rack locations and how to navigate our circulation system.
She did all this almost entirely on her own. Her go-getter attitude combined with her equal drive for the paper to be successful is something I am incredibly thankful for.
We’ve also managed all this on the heels of our now-2-year-old having open heart surgery and a challenging behavioral phase for our then-7-year-old.
No husband can be more thankful than I am for how she has managed our personal and professional lives. It’s why when asked at the CHS career fair Tuesday morning if I had a boss, my reply was earnest — my wife.
As we have in years past, my house will be the Thanksgiving mecca for my mom’s side of the family, most of whom come from the southeast Kansas and east Oklahoma areas, but also some from central Arkansas and from Texas.
It can be a challenge in itself hosting 10-20 people depending on who all decides to come, but I am always thankful to be able to share this holiday with them.
When I was a kid, we spent many Thanksgivings at my great-grandmother’s house in Independence, Kan. I can’t tell you how many games of tackle football my cousins and I played in the lawn of the church across the street from that house, or how many games of “Queens” we played on the played on the floor betting quarters while our elders were sitting at the dining room table razzing one another over who owed who what before the next game of poker started.
As everyone descends on our house, I’m thankful to be able to offer a place where we can build those memories for our next generation — and at that exact same table, which my grandpa gave to me when I moved to Cassville.
I am incredibly thankful for that next generation and getting to father it. It’s an exciting time in our house with our littlest learning a new word or phrase nearly every day, and our oldest is thriving in her piano lessons and is a reading whiz.
The experience of watching them grow, learn and adapt to the world around them is truly an honor, and I hope decades down the road they look back at Thanksgiving weeks at our house with love and admiration.
Having the opportunity to not only be part of a memory, but to create them, is something I value greatly in the world we live in today.
And that is my challenge to you this Thanksgiving week. Whether you’re hosting or visiting, surrounded by a large family or enjoying just a small gathering, try create a positive memory with others and use that opportunity to push the needle toward progress.
And, I don’t mean politically, though if you are bold enough to bring up politics with family, be prepared. I mean progress in knowledge, understanding, love and selflessness. We would all be more thankful to live in a decreasingly toxic world, and that starts with families and communities loving and supporting one another.
When it comes to being thankful, my cornucopia is overflowing, and I hope yours is, too.
I’ll tell you one thing, though, if I can get my daughters to eat a vegetable or two along with their plates of pies, I will be more thankful than should be allowed.
Kyle Troutman has served as the editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and became Publisher in 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he won a Golden Dozen Award from ISWINE in 2022. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com.
