Region's social correspondents continue tradition as a 'little lamp that keeps burning from their hometown'

Dec. 23—GRAND FORKS — Merv and Phyllis Holter hosted a family gathering early last month at their home in Drayton, North Dakota. Family members from Fergus Falls and Willmar, Minnesota, attended.

The following day, the Holters were visited by Janell Nyegaard, of Hallock, Minnesota.

In October, there was a Welcome Back party for Jan Maurstad, hosted by Clarice Mosolf, at the Tisdale Manor dining room in Drayton. Marge Marciniak, Donna Bostad and Linda Statkivige were among those in attendance.

Minor occurrences? Perhaps, but they're still found among the news columns in recent weeks in Drayton's Valley Views and News. Penned by Saralee Hoselton, the "Bowesmont Lives" column recalls a time when small-town newspapers were filled with the personal happenings and the social activities of townspeople and their guests.

"As much as anything, (the column) is to tell them we are still here and that we haven't melted into the woodwork," Hoselton said. "We have not disappeared. Some of the people might say, 'Do I really need to tell you that I visited my dad in the nursing home again?' But when you tell (readers), they know he's still there."

Hoselton and others continue to provide their weekly columns to local newspapers but realize the job is getting more difficult as people move away, as the ones who remain document their lives on social media instead, and as the number of small-town newspapers in the region is reduced every year.

"Darlene and Milt's loyal dog, Soot, passed away in her sleep Monday, Nov. 27. She was 13 years old and was a very loyal pal to Milt especially."

— Written by Megan Olson in the Nov. 30 edition of the Benson County Farmers Press

According to Cecile Wehrman, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, there were more than 90 newspapers in the state just a few years ago. Today, the number is 73; there were 12 closures in 2023 alone.

Meanwhile, the number of social correspondents has diminished, too. As recently as two decades ago, most weekly newspapers had multiple social correspondents. These days, many have none.

In addition to her duties at the NDNA, Wehrman is publisher of the Crosby Journal, a weekly newspaper in the northwest corner of the state. She also was publisher and owner of the Tioga Tribune, which closed this year.

She calls people like Hoselton "chicken dinner" correspondents, a descriptive nickname meant as a compliment. Although Crosby hasn't had one for a few years, Tioga did at the time of its closure.

"We do hear that people miss it and especially people from that generation. They don't understand exactly why we don't have it," Wehrman said. "As far as continuing it, there was enough (news) that we would still carry it and we would love to have it, but we just couldn't find anyone to replace her."

Social media is part of the problem, too, Wehrman said.

"You can't ignore Facebook's impact on this enterprise. ... I think that probably more than anything has changed what comes to the newspaper," she said. Correspondent columns were "really the equivalent of Facebook, as far as the social aspect. It was the way you kept up with their neighbors and who they were seeing and spending time with, what awards were won, and what anniversaries were celebrated."

"I apologize to Dorothy Brown as I left her news out last week. Besides her Friday trip to Devils Lake for her hair appointment, shopping and doing some errands (which she also did this week), Dorothy got her flu shot in Minnewaukan the Thursday before last."

— Written by Bonnie Alexander in the Nov. 2 edition of the Benson County Farmers Press

Social media's ever-increasing impact on kitchen-table news is troubling, Wehrman said, since social media is neither a public nor permanent record, while a newspaper is both. It's true, she said, that some newspapers have closed, but their records and archives likely will last forever in back issues and microfilm reels at public libraries and community historical societies.

If a family in a rural community hosted a big holiday dinner decades ago, a mention of it probably exists in the archives of newspapers like the Benson County Farmers Press, Drayton's Valley News & Views or the Roseau Times-Region.

"So the sad thing is that it's not just a record, but it's a social record or a cultural record that we are preserving for future generations to learn about their ancestors," Wehrman said. "It might seem kind of innocuous today to find out who went to Minot on some Tuesday (years ago). But if you don't know anything about that family, what a rich treasure trove of information it is to ... go back 50 or 100 years and see this."

After being interviewed earlier this month by the Grand Forks Herald, Wehrman sent an email to the NDNA's member newspapers, asking which ones still publish social columnists. Among those who responded affirmatively were newspapers in Litchville, Drayton, Mohall, Stanley, Bottineau, Garrison, Minnewaukan, New Rockford, Napoleon and Steele. It's likely others are still carrying social columnists, too, but the number is obviously dwindling.

Often under catchy and alliterative titles — "Sunshine from Sheyenne," "Isabel Investigations" and "Epistles from Esmond" in the Minnewaukan-based Benson County newspaper, for instance — these writers don't typically dabble in politics, controversy or singular subjects. They simply list very specific and personal information about house guests, hospital visits, trips and, at times, what was consumed at some event. Generally, each entry consists of just a paragraph or two, cascading down the page one after the other.

Some still use certain words that are falling out of style. To "call" on a home — traditionally meaning an in-person visit — was a typical thing to say 50 years ago, but few use the verb in that sense today. Now, most people younger than 40 would assume that to "call" means to dial a friend on a cellphone. And why call when a text is quicker?

In northern Minnesota, Genevieve Michal documents the goings-on in tiny Salol, an unincorporated village between Roseau and Warroad. There are no basketball games or City Council meetings to cover, but Michal understands the historical importance of the columns she writes each week for the Roseau Times-Region.

"I have gone to the museum in Roseau. You can look back at papers from the past and read the news from all the little towns. It's interesting," she said. "And I don't go on Facebook. I kind of like it the old-fashioned way."

"The guys are still hunting at Verna's. On Sunday, Valerie, Vernell, Ruth, Anna, Tunna, Emily Johnson and Finn, Thora, Jane and Ida were there for dinner."

— Written by Genevieve Michal in the Nov. 18 edition of the Roseau Times-Region

Hoselton said she makes telephone calls to various neighbors, usually on Sunday evenings. In the past, she'd call upwards of 15 people weekly; nowadays, it's more like five.

"A lot of them have passed on. Either that or they moved. Some are gone for the winter," Hoselton said. "And the younger people, some of them are paranoid and don't want their names in the paper."

Not everything makes it into print, of course.

"The conversations (on the phone) are generally more interesting than what goes into the paper," she said. "Some things we better not repeat."

Andrea Johnston, publisher of Valley News and Views, said Hoselton is recognized in the community as a correspondent. The content she produces is "hyper-local."

"Small-town newspapers need as much local as they can get," Johnston said. "(Hoselton) lives right in Drayton. Everyone in town knows her, and everyone in town knows her family. They have a lot of history. That's why we run her column."

According to K.L. Glover, managing editor of the Benson County Farmers Press, that newspaper's inside pages used to be almost filled with correspondent news. A little more than a month ago, it had four correspondents, but one recently retired.

To Glover, the columns reinforce the connection between the community and those who have moved away.

"For people who live in the community, it might not be big news that Mrs. Smith goes to see Mrs. Johnson and has coffee. But for someone who lives in Arizona or California ... it's an important connection," Glover said.

"It's a little lamp that keeps burning from their hometown. If that little flame goes out, a lot of people would miss it terribly."

"Jeff and Denise Labrensz enjoyed Thanksgiving at the Albert and Denise Pfeiffer farm along with Matt and Allison Pfeiffer and family and 20 others. There was a lot of visiting and even a game or two of Clue was played by a few."

— Written by Patti Clifton in the Nov. 30 edition of the Benson County Farmers Press

In Salol, Michal sometimes gathers her news via telephone, but she hears "quite a bit of stuff" at places like church gatherings. It takes her about an hour to write it. She adds in a few tidbits about the weather and an anecdote or two, but otherwise sticks to the medium's standard — what's happening in the lives, in the homes and at the kitchen tables of her neighbors. Often, a correspondent only covers her immediate neighborhood — a township, for instance.

"(Readers) tell me they really like the news. I have heard some say that ... 'I always read the Salol news,' " Michal said. "It is kind of satisfying to have those comments. I never have had complaints."

"(Saturday) Mike, Rachel, and Ava Wittrock of West Fargo arrived at the home of Gayle McConnell where they spent the night. Kris Tucker of St. Thomas joined them for Sunday dinner."

— Written by Saralee Hoselton in the Sept. 21 edition of Valley News and Views

In Drayton, Hoselton said she often wonders how much longer she'll write the column. Fewer people offer their personal news, and her eyesight isn't what it used to be.

"I have no clue. Good question," she said after being asked about her plans. "(The newspaper) still seems to want it. And the people, some of them who have moved away from here say 'that is the most important thing in the paper. You can't quit.' "

But the volume of the news to report just seems to be less, she said.

That's not unique to Drayton.

"People must be recovering from the holiday weekend with the lack of news this week," Megan Olson wrote at the end of her Nov. 25 installment of "Isabel Investigations," published in the Benson County Press.

She then wrote in third-person form for one final segment: "Megan has particularly been recovering from being sick."