Starts with K

For decades, the story of the local newspaper was written in red ink.

Newsrooms shrank, then closed – if they weren’t gobbled up by corporations with their sights set only on the bottom line.

High printing costs, paper tariffs, increasing postage prices left legacy institutions gasping for air.

But – and don’t stop me if you’ve heard this – the Steele County Times continues to grow. It’s because of several things: An owner/publisher who cares about effective journalism; a dedication to hyper-local coverage; literal decades of experience behind the pens.

I was reminded again of how important local papers are when I covered the Blooming Prairie Education Foundation’s annual banquet on Oct. 3, an event that honors graduates and educators from within the school district for their achievements.

I listened as L. Dean Christianson, who received the Distinguished Service award for his lifelong contributions to the community, spoke of his years as a Steele County commissioner.

“I thought, ‘well, I’m going to do the best job I can for our area, Blooming Prairie,’” he told the crowd. “So I made a motion, that first meeting, that we accept bids from all over Steele County – because everything had always been bought in Owatonna.”

The first success, Christianson said, was a bid by the then-Blooming Prairie Times to be the county’s legal newspaper.

“They won the bid,” he said, “and that was the first time it had ever been out of Owatonna.”

Full disclosure: We no longer are the legal newspaper. Our competitor likely loses money on the bid, so we let them.

Next up was Karen (Pesch) Inwards, who told a great story about LeMar Nelson, a beloved teacher-turned-journalist in Blooming Prairie for decades. He loved all things sports.

Inwards, who was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame for her success in three sports, is a 1987 BPHS graduate who continues to volunteer with the sports programs today, and works as a paraprofessional with special needs students.

“I would see LeMar shuffle into the high school, and he would catch up with me somewhere in the hallway and say, ‘Karen, I nominated you for the Athletic Hall of Fame.’ So I get this big smile on my face,” Inwards said, “and then he would add, ‘but you didn’t win.’”

It went on for a few years, until Nelson died in 2020.

“I thought to myself, ‘well, that’s it. I’m not going to have my name on that plaque that I walk past every single day at school.’ So it was kind of funny,” Inwards said.

Fast forward six years, when Ed Foundation Vice President Jenny Kelner called Inwards to say she’d been nominated for the award.

“So I kind of stopped,” Inwards said, “and waited for her to say, ‘but you didn’t win.’ Strangely, she let me know I had won.”

She continued to share her story, beginning with “that dark gym in the old elementary school” where she learned the fundamentals of basketball in seventh grade.

“We never scored many points in those games,” Inwards said, “but I got so excited on Fridays to go and buy the Black and White Chronicle, turn right to the sports sections and find my name. ‘Karen Pesch, four points.’

“Sometimes more, sometimes less, but it meant something,” she said. “It meant something when all of those kids bought that Black and White Chronicle and read those articles, and read articles about our teams.”

Inwards is right. Stories, whether in a school newspaper or a much larger endeavor, mean something. I am only half-joking when I tell people that church ladies and grandparents will keep local newspapers in business.

We have a phenomenal sports editor in Johnnie Phillips, whose game stories are second only to his incredible photography.

Ask around – see how many people still keep scrapbooks with clippings of the achievements of their loved ones. You might be surprised.

“I hope LeMar is looking down right now, and has a smile on his face, and can finally write that article,” Inwards said.

But if he can’t, Karen, I just did.