Community gardens are gaining popularity once again. Dedicated people in communities all over are coming together toward the common goal of creating a garden for everyone to nurture and care for. Hudson is joining the movement this year as well.
Hudson's assistant town clerk Rachael Arnold received a Project GROW community garden mini grant worth $300, sponsored by LiveWell Colorado and Steps to a Healthier Weld County through the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment.
Support for the garden project is growing rapidly. Arnold mentioned a local day care provider who plans to bring the children over to work on the garden and teach them about gardening and community.
Right now the project is still a work in progress. The proposed location for the garden is in Hudson Memorial Park, but the project needs help getting started.
Anyone who is interested in offering their assistance or volunteering on the events committee for Hudson can contact Arnold at 303-536-9311 for more information.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Assignment of the Day
This post is to be about what I've learned in the class so far, and the journalism and mass communications major in general.
I can say I have learned quite a bit about technique. As I was preparing for college, I wrestled with the fact that although I was a good writer and could probably pick up everything I needed from working in the field, there probably wasn't going to be someone there to hold my hand through the hands-on learning process if I jumped right into it in the "real world." There is no way I would have gone through the entire Associated Press Stylebook on my own, for one. That thoroughness would have been lost had I not gone through the JMC program. I didn't expect to learn as much as I did about the field. I wanted to be a copy editor, so I considered going for English, but I got what I needed from the English minor and definitely learned a lot about the other parts of being a journalist. I know now that if my editor needs me to cover a story, I'll have the tools to do it and still be able to return to my copy desk at the end of the day.
As far as this class specifically, I learned how to make this blog, and will be learning the basics of Web page design for my capstone project. Most of the writing was similar, but we did finally read William E. Blundell's The Art and Craft of Feature Writing, which is amazing. It could apply to more than just feature writing, but it really breaks things down and shows the formulas and patterns that go into writing a good story.
If I were to give any advice to future students starting in the JMC major, I would tell them how essential it is to get to know their adviser right away and push for information whenever they're not sure about what they need to be doing when. They've helped others through the program, so they will be some of the best resources for getting the most out of your time here. Make sure you know the requirements and choose your extra classes wisely. Pay attention from the beginning because everything you learn builds off of JMC 100. It's similar to learning math--if you don't get the basics down in Kindergarten and keep working from there, you're going to have to work even harder down the road. Don't forget to have fun too. This is one of the most free and most personally challenging professions, but the rewards of sharing the news and the things that matter to you are pretty priceless.
I can say I have learned quite a bit about technique. As I was preparing for college, I wrestled with the fact that although I was a good writer and could probably pick up everything I needed from working in the field, there probably wasn't going to be someone there to hold my hand through the hands-on learning process if I jumped right into it in the "real world." There is no way I would have gone through the entire Associated Press Stylebook on my own, for one. That thoroughness would have been lost had I not gone through the JMC program. I didn't expect to learn as much as I did about the field. I wanted to be a copy editor, so I considered going for English, but I got what I needed from the English minor and definitely learned a lot about the other parts of being a journalist. I know now that if my editor needs me to cover a story, I'll have the tools to do it and still be able to return to my copy desk at the end of the day.
As far as this class specifically, I learned how to make this blog, and will be learning the basics of Web page design for my capstone project. Most of the writing was similar, but we did finally read William E. Blundell's The Art and Craft of Feature Writing, which is amazing. It could apply to more than just feature writing, but it really breaks things down and shows the formulas and patterns that go into writing a good story.
If I were to give any advice to future students starting in the JMC major, I would tell them how essential it is to get to know their adviser right away and push for information whenever they're not sure about what they need to be doing when. They've helped others through the program, so they will be some of the best resources for getting the most out of your time here. Make sure you know the requirements and choose your extra classes wisely. Pay attention from the beginning because everything you learn builds off of JMC 100. It's similar to learning math--if you don't get the basics down in Kindergarten and keep working from there, you're going to have to work even harder down the road. Don't forget to have fun too. This is one of the most free and most personally challenging professions, but the rewards of sharing the news and the things that matter to you are pretty priceless.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Groundbreaking
On Friday, April 3, the town will be hosting the groundbreaking for the new water treatment facility. The ceremony will be located off of I-76. Just take the interstate to exit 34 and go north on County Road 49 to County Road 18 west and the site will be just down the hill. It will be at 10 a.m. and admission and donuts (long chocolate ones with chocolate sprinkles, I hear) are free to anyone who brings a shovel along.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A day in the life of Tim Hopwood
Tim Hopwood is Hudson's public works director. I spent a Monday with him early in March and got to see what kinds of things he spends his days doing. Probably the most difficult part for me was getting up extra early in the morning. His days usually start before 6:30 a.m. while I'm just barely waking up. Luckily, he's an easy-going guy who made my assignment an easy and enjoyable one to accomplish.
I wasn't exactly sure what his job entailed when I asked to follow him around for a day. After that Monday I had a lot better idea of all the things he was in charge of and saw some things Hudson residents don't see, such as the inside of the water storage and treatment facilities. It wasn't anything glamorous, but still a unique experience for someone who's not in the public works business.
When I sat down to write the story, I had a bit of a problem. I had an 800 word limit and probably 9,000 good words in quotes and stories I collected from Tim and his colleagues throughout the day. The challenge was to convey the personalities of each character (yep, character) without taking away from the point of the story--to describe in a chronological order the activities of Tim's day.
I think I succeeded in at least giving a good idea of the things that happen on a typical day. If I were doing it over again, I'd take more time to learn the details. I couldn't provide a technical or educational explanation of the things I observed Tim working on. I got so absorbed in what was happening that I didn't take the time to ask him to explain what was going on, let alone recording the explanation so I could turn into useful reader information later in my story. All the article consisted of in the end was purely my observations about what he was doing, and I don't have enough background in public works or water treatment to provide information on my own. I might have gotten bogged down in the details had I asked all those questions, but I still think I could have had a more well-rounded story in the end if I'd have focused on reporting on that aspect of the day.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
About my first profile
My first big assignment for this Advanced News and Feature Writing class was to do a profile story on one of the people involved with my beat. Since my beat (read: the topic I cover on a regular basis) is Hudson town government, I chose to do my profile on Isidro Guardado, the youngest trustee on the board.
Isidro is easy to talk to and seems serious about his role as trustee. Hudson is a small, easy-going town, and nobody stopped at his tire shop while we sat outside and talked about his motivations and goals to accomplish while he's occupying the position. If everyone were as pleasant to interview as Isidro, journalists would really have it easy.
The toughest thing for me was getting some of the other small-town people to talk to me in a candid way. I can see both sides. When I'm there wearing the reporter cap, people are going to watch what they say. They seem wary of my motives, even though I never heard a complaint about the performance of my subject throughout the course of my reporting.
As I mentioned before, I chose to highlight Isidro because he's the youngest on the board at 24 years old. I realized that I had always assumed that positions in government were for the generations beyond my own, but Isidro is my peer, and so I found that intriguing and wanted to know what motivated him. I learned that he's a normal guy who works hard and knows the value of putting the greater good of the town above typical follies people our age tend to prefer.
As far as the technical and writing parts of the project went, I learned a lot about cutting out excess wording. Our limit was something like 550-750 words and if anyone in the class went over or under by more than 10 words he or she would lose points on the final grade. My final word count: 758. I definitely learned the value of a good vocabulary and conciseness. It will be a good skill to have when I'm working on stressful deadline stories.
Want to read the story or others by my classmates? Check out the 410 Forum.
Isidro is easy to talk to and seems serious about his role as trustee. Hudson is a small, easy-going town, and nobody stopped at his tire shop while we sat outside and talked about his motivations and goals to accomplish while he's occupying the position. If everyone were as pleasant to interview as Isidro, journalists would really have it easy.
The toughest thing for me was getting some of the other small-town people to talk to me in a candid way. I can see both sides. When I'm there wearing the reporter cap, people are going to watch what they say. They seem wary of my motives, even though I never heard a complaint about the performance of my subject throughout the course of my reporting.
As I mentioned before, I chose to highlight Isidro because he's the youngest on the board at 24 years old. I realized that I had always assumed that positions in government were for the generations beyond my own, but Isidro is my peer, and so I found that intriguing and wanted to know what motivated him. I learned that he's a normal guy who works hard and knows the value of putting the greater good of the town above typical follies people our age tend to prefer.
As far as the technical and writing parts of the project went, I learned a lot about cutting out excess wording. Our limit was something like 550-750 words and if anyone in the class went over or under by more than 10 words he or she would lose points on the final grade. My final word count: 758. I definitely learned the value of a good vocabulary and conciseness. It will be a good skill to have when I'm working on stressful deadline stories.
Want to read the story or others by my classmates? Check out the 410 Forum.
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