Hereford a hard place to leave

In my first column for the Hereford Brand eight short months ago I noted that Hereford is good people.
I still say this is the friendliest place I’ve ever been. The people in Hereford are truly remarkable. They’re hard-working, kind, considerate and very helpful. I can say that I’ve not met anyone here that I didn’t find likeable or at the very least somewhat agreeable.
Those in public office have been outstanding to work with. Good news or bad, everyone has cooperated with me and not tried to hide anything from me. I can’t tell you how rare that is with government in general.
City Manager Rick Hanna has bent over backward on many an occasion to help with stories or even to suggest them. County officials have always been upfront with me about things, even when it put them in a bad light. The school district does a phenomenal job of providing the paper with information and photographs. The same goes for the law enforcement agencies.
Hereford is the kind of place where folks still say hi to strangers and often make sure they’re not strangers for very long. A prime example of this is my friend Shawn Wyly.
Shawn lives just outside of Amarillo, but he’s an ol’ Hereford boy. I’m sure many people here know him or know of him. I met Shawn three years ago when I moved from Colorado to Amarillo. He was teaching a Sunday school class at Paramount Terrace Christian Church.
I have never met a more honest, hard-working and God-fearing man in my life. I am a better person for having known him. He has done a lot to lift up and encourage me and my family, especially during our early struggles after moving here. I think he is typical of the kind of person one finds in Hereford.
I don’t know how much of Hereford’s character is shaped by the geography and climate, but one can’t help but notice that folks here value the rugged individual spirit of the West combined with the biblical Golden Rule. A person from Hereford will not ask for help unless he really needs it, nor will he wait to be asked to offer it.
I had many high hopes of settling down in Hereford and raising my family in this place and with those values. But, as the saying goes, if you want to make God laugh, try telling him your plans.
Sandy and I have prayed often and at length these past few months for God to show us where to live and what to do with our lives. We did so with the mindset that Hereford would be our home and it was only a matter of time before he showed us the house where we would live and the job Sandy would be doing.
Not long ago, God answered those prayers in a very clear and bold way. He provided Sandy’s grandfather’s house to us, not in Hereford, but in Rosenberg, which is on the west side of Houston. Her grandfather has been wanting to move into a senior apartment, but doesn’t want to sell his home yet due to the poor market conditions. It meets a need for both of us.
At the same time, I was offered a job nearby in Hempstead as the general manager of the Waller County News Citizen. As they say, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
I leave Hereford with nothing but good feelings and no regrets. This town has been great for me and will always have a soft spot in my heart. I hope that I will have opportunities to return and see folks I have dared call friend and a place that makes me feel warm inside, though as if it were home.
In my absence I leave a mostly new news crew here at the Brand. I trust them to your care and know you will treat them right, just as they will do their best to take care of you.
Many of you have been introduced to Eddie Farrell, who will take on most of the reporting duties. Tyler Jameson will be doing a lot of the layout of the paper and will also do some reporting. Desarae Phipps is a part-time staff member who mostly handles obituaries, police reports, Meet Your Neighbor and lifestyles. I am confident you will not be disappointed in their efforts.
That leaves two people on the editorial side who have been the backbone of this operation in my time here. The publisher, Grover Ford, came here three months after me and has done an outstanding job with the paper. At a time when the industry is tanking and papers are downsizing and laying off staff, the Brand has grown and added personnel.
He is a newspaper wizard and has been the best mentor I’ve had in this business. I will miss him more than he knows.
That leaves my intrepid sports editor, Skip Leon. What can you say about Skip? I’ve never know anyone who loved his work more, laughed as hard (or as often) and been as dedicated and dependable as Skip. Y’all already know what a treasure he is.
He has the second-longest tenure on staff next to pressman Rick Castaneda and he has now been slapped with the franchise tag. If this were the NFL, he’s what you’d call a future hall of famer.
Alas, I hate long goodbyes and I’ve rambled long enough. If you want to keep up with my writings, I will continue to post my columns on my blog at joesouthern.blogspot.com. Feel free to join me there. I’ll see you in cyberspace!