I know winning isn’t everything, but it can be fun. I’ve had my fair share of losses over the years though. Yet to some, winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. I don’t like that mentality because we all fail sometimes. So saying it’s the only thing really isn’t true. Sometimes losing makes you learn a harder lesson – like humility, which is also good to have.

However, I understand keeping a winning mentality is very important too because a winner is always ready to face challenges that may come in between her and her achievements. On the other hand, a quitter usually gets perturbed by life’s challenges and o_en gives up just short of the victory and I denitely don’t want to do that.

So, having a winning mentality means having a winning attitude and I want to strive to have one even when things get hard.

t being said, it has not been easy in the newspaper business for a while now. Some would say we are a dying breed. With social media trying to represent itself as the main source of information, it can become di_cult to keep your chin up. Even though you know that a lot of social media contains fake news, they are not held to a higher standard like we are at your local newspaper. So, it can become maddening when people seem to only believe in social media and not support their local newspapers.

ugh I also like social media because it can be instantly put out there for all to see, I understand the value of verifying the information which journalists are required to do. So never underestimate the truth and the integrity of your local newspaper crew who work day in and day out in the same community that you work and are really working for you to get the accurate story and tell you the real facts, hopefully without bias.

I know my McIntosh County Democrat o_ce is small. In fact, I’m the only one in our Checotah ofce right now and I do my best to run to city council meetings and other meetings, school functions, etc. as I try to get information and pictures of what’s going on in our little world. t’s why it is impossible to be everywhere and be everything for everyone. So I depend on my community to have my back like I have theirs. It takes a village and I know it. s is why I am thankful for those who are part of my tribe and help me to be a better reporter as I cover our local stories.

Yes, I work with a skeleton crew that I like to call the “Fabulous Five” which includes: Shauna Belyeu our general manager; Jerry Fink our editor; Rodney Haltom our sports editor; Daphanie Hutton our Legal Publications Dept. manager and myself as ofce manager. We all work together on two weekly papers, the Democrat and the Indian Journal and we do our best to cover our communities each day. We also cover for each other and we are more than coworkers – we are family as we eat, sleep, work and repeat to cover our local news.

So, when we do win amazing awards like we did this weekend at the Oklahoma Press Association Convention, we hope you are as excited as we are that your local newspaper is being recognized. se are YOUR stories, YOUR pictures and YOUR local newspaper sta_ who are covering YOU and winning best in Community Leadership, which was our Chalk Walk against domestic abuse. We also won rst in sports story, sports photograph, sales promotion which was our Gridiron Guide showcasing our football teams, advertising, photography and front page design which was our Sesquicentennial celebration of Checotah that Ms. Emmy was so adamant for us to cover. Not to count short our second and third places in news content, editorials, etc.

t being said, this is why when we bring home the Sequoyah, which is the highest achievement in our division. It’s a huge win for not just us but our community because there are only 10 awarded in the whole state. s means we are part of the top ten newspapers in Oklahoma.

So even though winning isn’t everything, it sure feels good for the McIntosh County Democrat to win the Sequoyah and on a personal note for me to win OG&E Picture of the Year with Cody Johnson’s lawn mower race picture where his shoes were _ying o_ as he was wrecking and I was trying to move out of his path but kept snapping pictures.

So, I guess almost getting run over and getting heat stroke that day at the Freedom Celebration was worth it because it won me a total of $300 for that one picture.

It also proves winning isn’t everything, but it sure can be a whole lot of fun and a great win for our local newspaper and community.