That's not NEWS?!

Here's a quick note from yours truly. I love my profession despite its lack of respect. At least lawyers have a long list of jokes devoted to them. You can't say that about the media.

Watching the wires, the TV's, the internet, and anything else that moves today. A lot of what I see are stories about President Obama's birth certificate and the royal wedding. (Off topic here: Should royal and wedding be capitalized in that sentence?)

People often ask, "Why is this news?"

120 days and counting

It's been four months since I walked in the door of another television station and started to work. Where did all that time go? Since we've visited here in this space, the 'new guy' label has faded a little. The new year brought about a big move for the family. We packed two Uhaul trailers and the longest Uhaul truck you can rent. It was an adventure for sure.

We've been so busy around here, only recently did I stop to think about the friends I've made back in north Texas and southern Oklahoma. A slight case of homesickness I guess. I'm sure the long list of things to do and the new demands of a new job have helped displace those old familiar feelings.

The worst case of homesickness I ever had was back in the fall of 1996. I'd moved down to College Station, Texas to attend Texas A&M. I was an Aggie. I didn't join the Corps of Cadets immediately upon arrival but I should have. It took about a week before I did that. The "corps games" were hard. The studying was nearly impossible. I was a long way from home. It took some time, but College Station eventually became home for me. I was never really cured of that longing for De Kalb though. I'm sure nobody ever really is when it comes to their first home place. All roads lead there, you know?

Tribute paid. But plenty due.

Hello there, I'm Charlie Haldeman. I'm the son of Charles Robert. I even have the same name. I don't have to tell you we're all named after each other. My oldest son is Charles Robert too... or actually three. Harriet may be the baby, but she's named after her aunt AND her dad. He was the baby too... so there you go.

As we were sitting down, my cousin Nick noted how you could hear the entire family in the back through the walls here... laughing and talking, while you all were being seated as the prelude played. It was a solemn and somber occassion out here, but back there... it was joyous and uplifting despite the ocassion. That's what Riley Haldeman would've wanted.

Whenever Riley approved of something, you often heard him say 'Amen.' So I'll beging with an often heard verse, "This is the day the Lord has made. Let US rejoice and be glad in it," to which he would have said ?... (Amen)

A few years ago, Tom Brokaw set out to chronicle what's become known as the greatest generation. He began to collect his thoughts about the people who came of age during his parent's youth. Some of you even lived those times too. In the end, he found more than their stories and experiences. He found more of himself too. I hope to do that here as well.

The greatest generation is most commonly associated with World War II. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines. But there were the unsung heroes of that time. Riley Haldeman was among them.

Riley Haldeman was 23 years old in 1941. He was a newlywed... and well on the way to starting the family that we know and are part of today.

Already working on the railroad... he was drafted. He wanted to go. He wanted to do his part in the war effort. The US Navy he said. He made the trip to Tyler for the standard physical. Deferred was the answer back from authorities. He was turned away, not once. Not twice. But three times he once told me. Turns out the railroad needed him at home. He indeed did his part for the war effort and his country. And his family too.

To quote my mother from yesterday, he was the definition and success story of Texarkana in the 20th century. As this community struggled to come to grips and eventually persevere through the great depression. So did he persevere.

When I think Texarkana, I think of him.

Whenever I pass by Rose Hill, I think of him.

As I travel 9th street, I think of him. Whenever I'm in another town and see a shelter or a soup kitchen, I'll think of the friendship center.

And I'll think of him.

Whenever I come to a line of cars waiting at a railroad crossing, the drivers frustrated because they don't like waiting on the train to cross. I'm likely in a hurry too. But I'll smile because I know that train is keeping our country going. And supporting countless families like mine. As the flashing red lights alternate and the horn blows, I'll think of him.

Dominoes. Arkansas Razorbacks football. Sleeping all day and working all night. Good solid life advice. Daily Devotionals. Post Toasties. Lawrence Welk. Prayers for all his people. And Vera. I'll think of him.

I had the fortune of living close by... just 30 miles. I spent many summers and weekends as a child with Nannie and Papa. The story of their 70 year marriage and 6 children has been told time and again. He told stories with a passion. Maybe it's part of where I learned the love of telling stories. I don't know. He could make you feel like you were there when it happened. And young people of the room, I have an unlikely story of the tooth fairy you might like to know. I lost a tooth while spending the night with Nannie & Papa. I was very concerned that the tooth fairy might not find me since I wasn't home. The next morning, I looked under my pillow, and sure enough... nothing was there. But my tooth was indeed gone! Papa came to check... and told me to look again. Maybe I'd missed it. Finally, I found a crisp dollar bill between the bed and the wall. You see, my Papa made sure the tooth fairy knew where to find me.

He was the baby of his family. Lived with his mother and father most of their lives. He spent time in the civilian conservation corps... the "CC Camp" as he'd call it. As a family, and by ourselves... we came to know and love his sisters. I never realized growing up, how rare it is to be so close to your parents' siblings and their in-laws. It's very common around here. He made sure of that.

Eventually... he became what my dad recently called the leader of the band. Now Dan Fogleberg's 70's hit song was probably not featured on the Lawrence Welk program... but the lyrics seem to fit perfectly. It came on the radio early Tuesday morning as Daddy got in his car to leave the hospital.

"The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old. But his blood runs through my instrument. And his song is in my soul. My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man. I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band"

For me and some others... Riley Haldeman was our Papa. He was the leader of the band. Aside from the happy memories of him... probably the most consistent memory across our time together was...

He lived by example. He wasn't perfect and never pretended to be. But he attempted to live by example. He was a Christian man who was raised by a mother who still got on her knees to pray. Who read her bible every day. She passed on her attempt to live a good life to her son. His attempt only strengthened by Nannie. Where there is one. There is the other. Leaning on each other in hard times. Celebrating hand-in-hand in easy times.

Living by example. And through that example... his song continues to play on in my soul. But aren't we all poor attempts to imitate the man. I'm proud as I can be to be a living legacy to Riley Haldeman. And so I say to one of the unsung heroes of that greatest generation, thank you papa. I'll think of you

What do you want on your tombstone?

I don't know who wrote this obituary I just read, but it's too memorable not to pass on. You may not have known this lady but you'll wish you had after reading.

I don't know if any of her obituary will end up on her tombstone, but at least it will live on thanks to the internet. I didn't know her. I know her family though. I'm sure they'll be talking about this for a long time after this week.

http://www.batesfamilyfuneralhome.com/87/Glenna-Wilson-Memorial

It became a turning point...

I'm sitting here listening to Tom Brokaw on MSNBC. I haven't seen him since Russert died. I'm glad he's back on TV, but I'm pretty sure this is a special piece he's helped to put together. This particular piece deals with baby boomers. So far, he's covered Woodstock and the Civil Rights Movement. Brokaw is such a talented craftsman. I've always thought so. Perhaps for the first time though, I'm actually analyzing his statements. I don't mean I'm picking apart his story. I'm listening to how he writes. How he speaks. Can you hear it?

Brokaw's always had a bit of an accent. I know this all too well, because I do too. His sentences are short. They are simple. They are powerful, despite the choice to use fewer words. It reminds me of the instructions from my high school teacher, Mrs. Shumake: "OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS."

I don't do it often enough. I'm too busy trying to show off I guess.

What Mrs. Shumake was trying to tell us in that classroom, and what Brokaw is good at---
We don't need a long string of 5 dollar words to get our point across. When a few will do, then we should use a few.


On another note to the few customers I have here on this column... I'm not the anchor over at KXII-TV any more. I posted a brief piece about it over on the facebook fan page last week. No, there's nothing to worry about. It was time to go and I did. I'll keep you posted on the next chapter. Maybe I'll write more short sentences in these spaces more often. That is, as long as I leave out the extra words.

An open letter to a new employee

Dear new employee:

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your career here. What the heck were you thinking? That first question might surprise you, but trust me. You'll be asking yourself that very same question in a few days. Maybe a few hours. How you answer will probably determine your attitude toward any and all undertakings as you attempt to do good work here. If you fail to even attempt to do good work, I'll eventually catch on to you. But your co-workers will catch on first. They'll be nice about it in the beginning but when they realize you've made their job harder, they'll rat you out.

Sorry to sound so pessimistic. There are just so many people who've come before you. Some of them worked out. Most of them didn't. Our qualifications are more than just having a heartbeat and being able to breathe (even though sometimes it doesn't seem that way.)

I'm actually not all that pessimistic, I just have a hard time living with mediocre work. I hope you understand. The sad part is, my claim to fame (aside from some random story about a cloned cat) is that I created a youtube video that's been viewed 500,000 times. I've received one or two awards in the business, but none of them came with cash prizes. They don't really count then, do they?

If you've been in our kind of business before, then you've heard the saying, "It gets in your blood." That saying is figuratively accurate. If you keep reminding yourself you got here because you wanted to be here, you might actually survive. Heck, there's a good chance you'll even thrive. If you try.

You already know the job doesn't pay diddly. I told you that during the job interview so don't come in complaining later. As a matter of fact, don't even joke about the money you don't make. It only reminds others about their constant struggle to pay the bills. Focus on the experience, not on the pay check.

If you want a good pay check, McDonald's and Starbucks pay better than we do. True story. I found out last weekend Starbucks offers part-time employees medical benefits. Who does that? Answer- companies that sell coffee.

There's a lot to learn here. There are computers, and procedures. Not all the computers work like they should all the time. Be patient with those machines, but don't expect patience in return. We work in a 'Get it right. Get it first.' environment. Spelling errors should be treated as egregious as factual errors. All too often our writing is vanilla and boring. I can't hold your hand every step of the way, but I'll encourage you to write effectively. Write with meaning. Omit needless words and always use proper pronouns.

The hours are awful. I told you that during the job interview too. You came anyway. Don't complain about your hours either. Before you came here, we worked as much as 10 to 12 hours a day. The company cut overtime, so we work normal 8 hours shifts now. They're not as normal as 8 to 5, but they're more normal than they used to be. Those 10 to 12 hours days still exist, but they're not as common.

You'll run into mean people inside and outside. Not everybody is as chipper as I (insert smart comment here). They care about themselves and could give a hoot about what you're doing. As long as you stay out of their way and help them out, you'll be fine. I'll tell you a secret about those people. They won't be here long. They're not interested in a team effort.

In our business, there's only one true stakeholder that matters. It's the viewer. As cliche as it sounds, I still believe in the viewer. I also believe in the Andy Rooney quote, "Somewhere along we way we stopped telling people what they needed to know and started telling them what they wanted to know." So yeah, I am indeed a walking contradiction.

Some advice for you as you start-

1- if you don't already have it, develop a real passion for news. Watch other newscasts. Read the news on the internet. Become a fan of news organizations on facebook, twitter, and whatever other social media website you can find. They still print newspapers too. Even though a lot of papers are online, there are a few weekly publications that aren't. Read those too.

2- learn to do more with a computer than play Solitaire or check the weather. Learn to send files via FTP. Learn to build a website. Learn. Learn. Learn. As a matter of fact, apply that verb to all aspects of this gig, not just computers.

3- write often. Write for the fun of it. Write because you want to. If you don't want to write, turn in your resignation now.

4- learn to create great video. This can apply even if you don't have a handicam and shoot your own. Learn to edit like a pro. There are hundreds of tip sheets online and down at the public library. It's very simple. Edit in sequence. Edit to match the copy. Edit to capture the attention spans of those viewers (see number 1). If you've ever seen a teacher who has a passion for a particular subject, then you know firsthand they tend to spread that passion to others. You can do the same with your video and copy.

5- When it gets rough, remember it's just television. Mistakes aren't always excused, but they can be lessons learned. When it seems like the world is caving in and nothing goes right, think to yourself: It's just television. There's always another show. There's always another entry on the website. There's always another day.

I could go on with the list, but you're likely overwhelmed with the job at hand.

By the way...

What in the world were you thinking?

Canvassing local art. Really local art.

One of my oldest friends has a picture he won in a raffle a few years ago. It hangs in the back of his family business where few get to see it, but I've always liked it. I make a point to go look at it when I visit. To the untrained eye (or the unfamiliar), its nothing special. Just a two lane road that runs underneath a canopy of trees. Other than the leaves and branches that hang over the path, the yellow stripes in the middle are about the only features that stand out. It's a large photograph in a nice sturdy frame and anybody would be proud to hang it on the wall.

One time I helped him move and the back seat of my old truck was where we transported this picture, along with all his other pieces of artwork. Other than the paintings and drawings of ducks, duck hunting, and retriever dogs; I noticed most of his collection was made of artwork crafted by people from our hometown. People from our past. Our childhood. Talented storytellers. Some of whom died long ago. But their work is still on canvass or picture paper for us to look at.

The picture of that narrow road was taken prior to 1995. The highway department cut those trees down and put in a new road and bridges where US 259 cuts across the Sulphur River on the way to Omaha. As a kid, it was often the spooky part of any trip south. Any time we were coming home from some place or another, you always knew you were 16 miles from home went you passed through the tunnel of trees around the Sulphur. It was shady all day on that road back then. The only break in the canopy was when you crossed those narrow old rickety bridges over the river and the flood relief slough.

The picture on the wall doesn't capture that essence, but it brings those memories. It probably brings about similar memories for anybody who stopped long enough to look at it.

That friend of mine is one of several back home who collects local art. My parents are local collectors too. My Daddy has a copy of an old railroad map from a hundred plus years ago hanging on the wall in his room. I love maps so I naturally gaze at it when I get the chance. That map shows the old Texas & Pacific rail line as it spanned north and east Texas. Towns that aren't even around anymore are dots on this extra long drawing.

My Mother has dozens of paintings. Some of them have been hanging around since before I was born. There are a few from Mrs. Lollie Moser. Over on another wall is one painted by Pam Prather. My aunts Betty Sue painted a while. Mama has some of her work.

Erma Shumake painted one of the old Shumake house near New Hope. My Great-Grandfather Ed Shumake was raise in that house along with his brothers and sisters. His brother Uncle Penn Shumake raised a large family of his own there. My cousin Shirley still lives there today.

The hometown isn't known to the outside world as an arts oriented place like Salado or Marfa but its people have produced treasures any serious collector ought to be interested in.