25 YEARS of Our Brown County
GRATITUDE
We live in a county that has only three stoplights. One of those lights is currently out of commission because a troubled soul decided to deliberately take it out with their vehicle. It has been that way for most of the winter due to a scarcity of that type of pole. If you ask the people who live here if they miss the light, they will likely tell you they do not. They don’ t seem to mind taking turns at the stop sign. You do have to pay more attention to the visitors crossing the street, and you must look around at all the other drivers to make certain it is your turn to enter the intersection. But it’ s really no hardship.
We aren’ t in a hurry here to get from one place to another. In fact, a good number of us don’ t even leave our own abode to do our jobs.
My office is a converted small bedroom in my home. The kitchen table often doubles as a desk where I write checks to freelancers or stamp addresses on envelopes. This little white house in Helmsburg is where I have spent the past 25 years producing Our Brown County. I create the magazine with a simple desktop PC computer’ s software and then I send the pages over the Internet( with broadband speed) to the Times Mail newspaper in Bedford where they make plates and print out the pages from their huge press. The Times
Mail truck hauls pallets of magazine bundles to my garage to be stored until our independent contractors deliver them all to more than 175 locations.
There is zero degree of separation between you, the subscriber or customer, and me, the owner of the company. There are no extensions or complicated voice mail menus when you call. You get me. I am the only official employee and everyone else is an independent contractor, with emphasis on the“ independent.”
I know a lot of Brown County folks that operate in a similar fashion. Some have more than one profession or vocation in order to support themselves during the off-tourist season.
We tend to value our independence and our hobbies here. My personal motto is,“ If you are not enjoying yourself, you are wasting your time.”
One of my friends builds log homes for a living and banjos for fun. He also plays a mean banjo. He makes his own schedule and don’ t even think about bothering him during mushroom hunting season in the spring.
Many local artisans make things from their home studios and participate in the Back Roads of Brown County Studio Tour every fall. You can usually get a glimpse of their creative lifestyles any time of the year, but I would suggest calling ahead, because they might be out taking a hike, or traveling.
Residents here have been known to turn their hobbies into professions, quitting or retiring from their corporate jobs to become wood workers, candle makers, weavers, or even magazine publishers.
One thing all of us that live here have in common is that we do not take our small town lives for granted. We know this is a special place. You can get to know your neighbors( if you want to). You can get together at the local pub to play darts, or gather at the Village Green Pavilion for an acoustic jam. When we have to travel to the big towns, we miss our trees. I see bald eagles and red-tailed hawks on the way to the grocery. You just don’ t get that kind of entertainment in the city.
We have it all here: art, nature, shopping, music, and food in a little town setting. I feel pretty lucky. •
— Cindy Steele
March / April 2020 • Our Brown County 25