When I found out Doug and Lori Lindner were going leave Solon, I was flooded with newspaper memories. Wherever my family lived, my parents subscribed to the Des Moines Register and I always said I learned to read at an early age because of the DMR comics section!
We lived in the Bayard area when I was aged 3 to 10 years old. If I was passing by the Bayard News office and heard the Linotype machine clickety-clacking, I knew Kenny Robinson was preparing the weekly newspaper for publication. (Kenny was an Iowa small-town journalism legend, who was also nice to a little girl with pigtails who enjoyed visiting him in the early 1950s.)
We moved to Haverhill in 1954 to help my maternal grandparents with “the store” as they transitioned to retirement. I continued to read the DMR and it was the Big Peach sports section, featuring the good-looking University of Iowa quarterback Randy Duncan, that cemented my love for Iowa football.
In Haverhill, I started my daily habit of reading the obituaries in the Marshalltown Times-Republican. Grandma Ryan always cut out the obituaries and gave them to the family, a habit I continue to this day.
In 1960, my parents took over the store and “Blum’s Grocery and Tavern” was established. I was re-organizing the storage room when I discovered metal type letters and wooden trays.
That’s when I found out Grandpa Ryan had a cold-type printing business earlier in life in Haverhill.
During my years at St. Mary’s High School (Class of 1962) and at Marshalltown Community College (1962-1964), I wrote news and feature stories for the school newspapers. I also penned an occasional “fun/contemporary/gossip” column. The high school newspaper was produced via the “cut and paste” offset print process. The stories were typed on paper into columns, which were pasted onto large pages. Then the large pages were photographed and afterwards printed to the size of the newspaper pages desired. In high school, writing was the easy part, composing the paper for print took a lot of time.
I came to Iowa City in the fall of 1964, and as a student, I received the Daily Iowan for free. I usually could read the DMR every day for free, too, as there would be a copy in common areas but I usually bought the Sunday DMR. After Ron and I married in 1966, I became a daily subscriber to the DMR and received it at our home ever since.
Upon moving to Solon in 1968 to teach third grade, I encountered our wonderful weekly, the Solon Economist. Marietta Beuter was in charge of the little space at 108 N. Iowa St., across the street from the current City of Solon offices.
Marietta had a big rolltop desk she used for her other part-time job as administrator for the Solon Community Credit Union.
Of course, a weekly Economist subscription was added to my newspaper reading. The Iowa City Press-Citizen also became another permanent subscription. In 1974, I resigned my third grade position and that fall, Carol Nicol and I started Happiness Is… PreSchool, which took up my mornings. At the time, the Solon Economist needed a reporter and Marietta suggested I apply for it. So, I added another part-time job. I covered meetings of the school board, the city council, plus I wrote feature articles e.g., “New Neighbors” and “Teacher Profiles.”
When I began grad school for the MA in Special Education, in 1977, I quit my part-time job writing for the Solon Economist but I again received the Daily Iowan for free. When I started teaching at College Community, in 1979, I became a Cedar Rapids Gazette subscriber and I continue its daily reading, even though I retired from Prairie in 2002. While at Prairie, I was the eighth grade sponsor for the memory book, so I again had fun with the students preparing “cut and paste” layout pages.
My love for the Solon Economist (a.k.a. “Solon’s Little Weekly Miracle”) has been ongoing no matter where the paper’s office was located. Marietta operated the Economist and the credit union at 212 E. Main St., current location of The Firm, until the credit union merged with University of Iowa Community Credit Union in 1988.
The building on the northeast corner of Main Street and Highway 1 served the Solon Economist until the 2018 move to 206 E. Main St. Over the years, every week I relied on getting the school board and city council news, plus enjoyed the other news stories and features. I treasure seeing the photos of the high school graduates every year. I’ve purchased display ads for family events and other special milestones. I’ve written an occasional Letter to the Editor.
In the last five years, I submitted articles for the Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop in Haverhill— designated in 1986 as a State of Iowa Historical site (one of six). Matthew Edel was my great-grandfather and I continue educating via my special connection to Iowa’s history. I thank Doug for giving me the opportunity to do so. For me, the weekly newspaper is what community is all about– very USA: of the people, by the people and for the people.
Doug and Lori are moving on to a new chapter in their lives but will always be part of Solon’s history. The Lindners’ move gave me impetus to reflect on my own 53-year residency in Solon and, especially, the Solon Economist. Here’s to the memories. Long Live local weekly newspapers.