BRILLION - Today I am proud and humbled.

I am proud to be the new editor of The Brillion News, one of the finest weekly newspapers I have seen in a long time. It is clean, well-organized and newsy. It is a positive reflection upon Brillion, Reedsville and the outlying areas it serves. The paper and its history are a testament to the Zander family’s commitment to excellence.

I am humbled by the sincerity, straightforwardness and positive attitude of the people I have had the pleasure of meeting. In many ways folks here are similar to my friends and family in my hometown of Adams-Friendship.

Adams, like Brillion, is a town of approximately 3,000. It is located in south central Wisconsin, about 25 miles north of Wisconsin Dells, and it was my home until I went to college at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Obviously the faces and the names are different in Adams and Brillion but the people are the same. On the whole they are hard-working, fun-loving and charitable men and women that share similar values, goals, hopes and dreams.

They want what is best for their parents, their children and their community.

I am new to the area, but it feels like I have been here all along.

When I talk to a farmer I will be reminded of my uncles that operated the family farm in Adams County near Castle Rock Dam on the Wisconsin River. They are resilient, generous and down-to-earth folks that exemplify all that is good about this country. They work hard and in many cases play even harder.

When I talk to a high school coach I’ll be reminded of my high school basketball coach, Ron Weber, whose younger brother, Bruce, is the head coach at the University of Illinois. Ron is equally as talented as Bruce, but he chose to marry, raise a family and coach high school basketball in small-town Wisconsin, whereas Bruce opted to marry, raise a family and coach big-time college hoops. Both made the right choice.

When I talk to a police officer I’ll be reminded of the cops in Adams-Friendship, many of whom I attended high school with. When I recall all of the crazy things we did as teenagers I think, “Is this really who I want to serve and protect me?” And then I think, “Yes, as a matter of fact, this is exactly the type of person I want in that position.”

When I talk to the parents of this area’s high school students and athletes I’ll be thinking of the Sawyers, the Pavelacs, the Theisens and countless other families that raised their own children while offering a ride, a meal or a kind word to their children’s friends. Naturally they want what is best for their own sons and daughters, but they also care about all the children in their community.

When I chat with the elderly I’ll be having fond memories of my grandparents.

My Grandma Klein lived one hay field from my parents’ house and her pork hocks, sauerkraut and dumplings rivaled anything the best chef in New York could serve.

My Grandma Havel lived in Wisconsin Rapids, where I worked at The Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune in my first full-time newspaper job. She was a terrific fan of the Brewers and the Packers, and she clipped each of my articles and lovingly positioned them in a place of prominence next to the fridge. Initially my “articles” were little more than no-byline rewrites of area high school sports events, but she would smile and say, “I can always tell which of the (three paragraph) stories is yours.” And she could.

When I visit with clergy I will be reminded of Fr. Emmitt Faber and the fine example of faith he provided for the congregation at St. Joseph’s, whether he was breaking bread at mass Sunday morning or at my parents’ house Friday night. He taught me Catholicism, to be sure, but not at the expense of respecting other religions.

When I talk to the men and women that volunteer to coach youth athletics I’ll be thinking of my bantam basketball coach, Alan Klaus, who gladly gave up weekday nights and Saturday mornings to teach kids the game and much more. It was Klaus’ ability to be firm but fair that laid the groundwork for my cousin, Curt Mathe, and me to be part of the first Green Devils’ high school basketball team to win the South Central Conference.

Was it important? That’s a silly question. It has been longer than I care to remember - 29 years to be exact - and I still recall most of the details of that incredible 1978-79 season. It is the same with former high school athletes from Brillion, Reedsville and other area schools. It isn’t a question of reliving glory days, but rather relishing them.

When I interviewed at The Brillion News I was reminded of the former editor of The Adams County Times and The Friendship Reporter. She was intelligent, honest and extremely business savvy, much like the three women that interviewed me for this job.

I wasn’t surprised.

The best editor I ever worked for was Carol Hunter, whose acumen wasn’t as fully appreciated as it should have been by some at The Green Bay Press-Gazette. A Kansas farm girl and one of 12 children whose siblings’ occupations include doctors and lawyers, Hunter describes herself as “the underachiever” in her family. Today she is merely one of the top editors at the Pulitzer Prize-winning Des Moines (Iowa) Register.

The best teacher I ever had was Mrs. Riva Colby, who taught me how to read and write, but also how to think.

The best person I know is my mother, Carole, who worked as an elementary school teacher in Beaver Dam but gave it up to be a wife and a stay-at-home mom. Her kindness, faith and intellect never cease to amaze me.

My sister, Teresa, got the looks and the brains. She is a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Green Bay and a great source of help and inspiration.

In this week following Mother’s Day is there any doubt which sex is the fairer and stronger?

My father, John, would agree, which qualifies him as a smart man, and it is one of the reasons he and Mom have been happily married for almost a half-century.

Dad worked as a builder who could pour concrete, build a fireplace, frame a house and do plumbing and wiring with equal aplomb. He still works hard and is terrific at what he does, but he couldn’t have done it without my mother at his side. Dad is pushing 70 now but he can still outwork, outwit and occasionally out-golf me. Dad will like that I wrote that, especially the part about out-golfing me.

My daughter, Josie, is 15 going on 25. She has blonde curly hair, big blue eyes and a pretty fair left-handed backswing in tennis. Her mother and I never married, but despite our flaws and differences Josie is a straight-A student and an even better kid.

Me? I am single and I like to watch sports, play golf, rollerblade and knock back a beer or two. I like to read the great western writer, Louis L’Amour, and much like him I think of myself as a storyteller, only the stories I will be telling are yours.

My parents will celebrate their 50^th wedding anniversary in January. I was struggling with gift ideas until it occurred to me that the thing a parent loves most is when their child is healthy, happy and comes to visit.

Brillion isn’t Adams-Friendship, and it isn’t going home, but it sure feels that way. I look forward to meeting you, though in many ways it’s as if we’ve already met.

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