Ron spoke to a large group at the regular Stryker Rotary meeting. Sixteen were present and two members attended remotely.
The group included a number of guests; Debbie and Gary Smith, Mckenna Lewis and Honorary Member Ruth Wieland and her husband Mike.
Ron told the club he remembered reading both morning and evening editions of the paper as he was growing up and wanted to be a part of the industry from a very young age.
He has been in the newspaper business for most of his adult life working in several locations. The last eight years of his career were spent at the Bryan Times where he held several positions including editor.
He also stated his appreciation of Rotary and told the club he has been a member of Kiwanis Club for 38 years.
Ron worked in the newspaper industry during a period when it experienced significant change in the methods people use to be informed about news.
He felt strongly that reporting must be done as accurately as possible and from a neutral perspective.
Today many methods used to get news fall short in accuracy and neutrality. Ron said he was very proud of what he had accomplished, and always did his best to follow these important principles.
These principles frequently put reporters in a position to provide news that may be unpopular but accurate.
Lack of staffing forced the paper to limit areas of news coverage and they chose to provide a voice for the community covering topics that could be covered well. They covered schools, townships, villages, and county activities.
Ron was placed in situations where he covered some sensitive situations, and always covered them with honesty and integrity.
He always covered an event starting with an empty slate, reporting the facts as they were presented. He was also proud of the work he did on covering the potential sale of water to Toledo.
Ron is pictured at the front table during his presentation to the Stryker Rotary Club.
