Comback of The Advance serves as inspiration to others
In a time when the economy of Michigan is low and the winter winds have blown in those drawn out and dreary days, many people search for any little bit of inspiration that can be found. After the large fire February 12 that took the life of two buildings in Rogers City and crippled a third, many people found the resilience of Presque Isle Newspapers to be that little piece of inspiration.
Richard Lamb, the owner and publisher of Presque Isle Newspapers, believes that the total destruction of the Advance building served a higher purpose. ?We all have to start over in some capacity at anything we do,? said Lamb. ?In the newspaper business, we are used to doing that and I guess we proved that we are good at it.? Lamb is referring to the news team?s ability to publish a paper just three days after the fire, even though every piece of equipment used in doing so was destroyed in the fire.
Starting over is exactly what Rogers City varsity volleyball coach, Mary Fairbanks, noticed when she entered the temporary headquarters of the Advance newspaper early last week. Her team had suffered a loss that they couldn?t seem to shake off and that she felt they may have troubles coming back from. She said that walking into the Advance office on Erie Street suddenly made her think differently about that loss.
?I walked into the office and saw everyone moving around and getting work done, just like it was business as usual,? said Fairbanks. ?It made me realize that if they can come back from a fire and jump right back into the game, then so can my volleyball team.? Fairbanks said that later that day she met her team at practice and shared those same thoughts. She explained how the employees of the newspaper were not quitting even after everything they had was destroyed and used it as an analogy for her team to come back from its upset.
Other residents found the resilience of the newspaper rewarding as well. Elementary school principal Missy Wozniak said that for as long as she can recall, Wednesday night has always been ?Advance night.? ?I remember my mom and dad bringing the Advance home on Wednesdays and we would use the paper to help us learn to read,? said Wozniak. ?When I saw that paper come out Wednesday, I was just so happy.?
There were, of course, others who were not as impressed with the firest edition after the fire. One gentleman that visited the office to purchase a paper was disappointed that there were only 12 pages. He was in the minority. To many people, the fact that a paper was published at allthe first week after the fire was a miracle. Many questions have been asked on how it was accomplished and if there were any times when it did not look possible.
?Starting that Monday morning, I had no doubt in my mind that we would put out a paper,? said Lamb. ?But I didn?t know how hard it would be.? Lamb gives much of the credit to Jeff Hopp and Bill Friedoff, who own and operate J & L Camera and Electronics and where the Advance office is now temporarily housed. ?Jeff and Bill have really rolled out the red carpet for us,? said Lamb. ?The miracle of getting a paper out wouldn?t have happened without them.?
Friedoff, in fact, knew the solution to Lamb?s problem on Sunday morning before Lamb even began to think about it. ?He pretty much told me that they had space available and we should take it. Of course, it was the right thing to do.? Before noon on the Sunday of the fire, Friedoff already had the temporary office rewired for Internet access and telephones; two very important aspects of a newspaper business. Other people in the area offered the use of computers and printers, as well as a copy and fax machine. At first, getting all of the computers to work together was looking tough and causing frustration, especially when it holds up the process of digitally putting together a paper.
?We had six Mac computers available and all six were different models and had different programs,? said Lamb. ?Getting the computers to talk to each other and working between them was very difficult.? Now that a week has gone by, new computers have been ordered and some are in the process of bei
?This whole ordeal has proven that the staff is very flexible and not set in their ways, which is very helpful when every day we are at a new desk with a new computer,? said Lamb. Just as the Advance has been an inspiration to others in the community this past week, Lamb has found the community outpour to be inspiring to him.
?I was just amazed and thankful for the kind response we got and are still receiving,? said Lamb.