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Statistically, you did not plan on getting this newspaper in the mail.

But before you toss it in with the offers that have been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty, give me a few paragraphs.

You won’t regret it.

Seven months ago, I had no idea any of this would happen either.

Seven months ago, I was a suddenly unemployed man about to marry the love of his life.

Today, I’m running the state’s fastest-growing media enterprise with writers on staff and freelancers, with outstanding local opinions and dispatches, with crosswords and a Library of Congress number — and with the one thing you can’t get anywhere else: Real people’s stories from Brookings.

And now I am here asking for your help.

***
Enough people have helped already that we’ve reached this point well ahead of schedule: You’re holding in your hands the first saturation issue of the Brookings Beacon.

We paid to print and mail this paper to everyone in town. We want everyone to see what we’re doing, my wife Nichole and I. We’re so damn proud of it.

And then we need you to subscribe. Go to our website at BrookingsBeacon.com and choose a package — or use the printed form on page 15 of this paper.

And we need you to advertise. If you run a business, we want to help you get the word out. We sincerely want you to succeed. We want to see our town grow and our friends and family thrive.

But, mostly, we want to be a part of creating the community for which this town has always been known.
Nikky and I, though both from here, both went away to school. We came back for multiple reasons — but the biggest one was always this: We missed the sense of home and camaraderie that seems to come naturally to this place. When we were kids, we DID think it came naturally.

We grew up in it.

But after the past seven months, we’ve learned that isn’t true. That community is built block by block, callused hand by callused hand, generosity by generosity. It’s built by a thousand different offers to help.

It’s built by the sweet notes people send with their subscription forms. By the people who stop you in Hy-Vee and tell you how much they enjoy the new paper.

The sense of bonhomie and community in Brookings isn’t a constant — it’s the byproduct of a million small acts of goodness.

That’s what we’re relying on moving forward. And those are the stories we want to tell.

***
There’s a clarity of mind that comes from being a jobless groom.

And that’s exactly where I was seven months ago. Walking down that aisle after having been laid off in the worst way I’ve ever heard of — I learned about it third-hand the week of my wedding.

The clarity was this: I wasn’t going to spend my time serving a soulless corporate entity anymore. And make no mistake, I am not talking about spite.

Out-of-state corporate ownership simply will never serve this community. Just like it hasn’t served Sioux Falls or Watertown or Aberdeen. Just like it didn’t serve the radio stations here in town.

I have been in this business my entire life. And I have seen how it plays out: Economic trouble brings a worse bottom line. A worse bottom line means the folks who only care about the bottom line will make cuts to “fix” the product. The product gets worse and, in turn, the bottom line gets worse again when people feel ripped off.

The only way for a local newspaper to weather those storms remains: BE a local paper and keep that mission in mind. So that’s what we are doing.

In this edition you’ll read about a new business aiming to bring New York style bagels to Brookings — and save a good dog in the process; you’ll read about a new project to let neighbors give to each other with perhaps more dignity; you’ll read about the next chapter for a standout BHS athlete; you’ll hear from numerous different community members on religion, politics, citizen science and much more.

More than 20 local businesses paid their hard-earned money to advertise in this edition, as well — please support them all. They are all betting on us, and we’re committed to not letting them down.

***
I have had just about every job you can have on the editorial side of journalism — and more than one that didn’t exist when I started in the business. But running my own business has been a fast education.

Luckily I married someone much smarter than me, and Nichole has taken a crash course on all the hidden parts of mailing and managing a newspaper, and just plain making this thing run. All while starting a new career of her own. I have been writing between 2,000 and 4,000 words per week — dying to make each one count — while I also try to tend to the business side of things.

I can factually report that The Beacon is well ahead of schedule. But we also need to keep growing to make sure we can serve this community.

Startups are a tricky thing — and the numbers are against them. Media startups? Even more fickle. Those realities keep me 15 percent terrified, while I steadfastly remain 85 percent excited.

We need to grow our subscriber base. We need to grow our advertiser base. When we do that, we can expand — likely by hiring some more people here in town to help out. I don’t think I will catch my breath until we’ve been operating for a full year.

But when the terrifying moments come, I remind myself of this: I am not betting on a media startup. I am betting on Brookings. I am betting that Brookings will show up and show out for something quality and something of their own.

I am enough of a Midwesterner that I loathe asking for help. But I will not let pride get in the way of what I truly think is right, either.

If you have read this far, and you’re not subscribed? Change that. Give us a shot for a year. The price is more than reasonable, and I think you’ll find us valuable. If you have been meaning to advertise? Shoot us an email. We have great rates and with our rate of growth, you’ll be getting a bargain the earlier you get on board. Skip the extended warranty if you have to.

In my first print column for The Beacon, I hearkened back to another startup, back in 1890, when some brave souls established the first known newspaper in Brookings, just months after South Dakota became a state.

There, in the flag of their first edition, were these words: “Be Just and Fear Not.”

Those words continue to light the way forward for us today.

Nikky and I can’t do this by ourselves — and I doubt we’d even try. We believe in what we’re doing for the community writ large.

Being a journalist requires a belief in the power of reporting, the power of words. You have to know in your soul that the sun can rise or set depending on whether you get the words right.

They got those words right in 1890: Be Just and Fear Not. That’s just what we’re going to do — with your help, for a long, long time to come.
Onward.

Linehan is the Beacon’s managing editor and welcomes story ideas, tips and comments at BrookingsBeacon@gmail.com