You meet the nicest people at the fire station

     “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” Remember that advertising slogan?

That was before Hondas had four wheels in America.  The commercials always featured happy people scooting around on their motor bikes.

     I’ve never owned a Honda with two or four wheels, but I have discovered some mighty nice people where they park those big red fire trucks.  There’s something about firemen that fascinates kids.  And I’ve never met a firefighter—man or woman—who wouldn’t take time to let a little one explore his or her fire hall and climb up into one of those shiny trucks.  When our younger son, Eric, was barely talking, he’d tell you, “I’m two fire engines old.”  

Thanks to a front-page article in the National Newspaper Association’s publication, Team Carter’s appeal for fire department patches has gone nationwide.  In the photo left, 6-year-old Carter Sanborn shows off the fire helmet and T-shirt sent to him by Pat Shearer, a retired Athens-Clarke County firefighter.  Looking on is Carter’s older brother, Christopher, one of Team Carter’s biggest boosters.

     That’s why I could relate to Carter Sanborn’s love of everything to do with firefighting.  In October, I introduced you to Carter, who lives in Ashburnham, Mass.  While he is growing up in New England, his roots are right here in Georgia.  His great-grandfather, Aubrey Hires, was Wayne County school superintendent in the 1950s.  His great-grandmother, Kathleen Hires, was my 12th-grade homeroom teacher.  And his grandfather, Pete Hires, and I have been buddies since 1952.

     So when Pete mentioned that his special-needs grandson, 6-year-old Carter, was collecting fire department patches, I decided to see whether you—our readers—could help.  We formed Team Carter, and the response has been overwhelming.  Of the 250-plus patches in Carter’s collection, I’ve contributed only a few.  You’ve done the rest.

Robert Williams is the voice of America’s small-town newspapers

     The ink bug bit Robert Williams early.  Before he was shaving, he had ink in his veins and a pants-on-fire desire to be a newspaperman.  In 1971, when Roy Chalker Sr. and Wilkes Williams called Robert, he dropped out of Georgia Southern College and sprinted to Blackshear.   At age 20, Robert became the youngest newspaper publisher in the nation, owning one-third of The Blackshear Times.  Eventually, he’d become sole owner of the weekly whose motto is: “Liked by many.  Cussed by some.  Read by them all.”

As president of the 2,300-member National Newspaper Association, 

Robert Williams, right, is making laps around the country 

being the voice of small-town newspapers.  In March, he presided over the annual 

government affairs conference in Washington, D.C.  

He invited his friend Bob Schieffer, left, the CBS News host of 

Face the Nation, to keynote the event.  Another highlight of the conference 

was the presentation of the Daniel M. Phillips Leadership Award to 

Eric NeSmith.  NeSmith, 34, vice president of Athens-based 

Community Newspapers Inc., is currently chairman of 

The University of Georgia’s Henry W. Grady College of 

Journalism and Mass Communications alumni board.  

In late 2013, Georgia Trend magazine named him to its annual 

Top 40 Under 40 list of leaders. (Photo by Stan Schwartz, NNA)

Forty-three years later, Robert’s pants are still on fire.  Robert and his wife, Cheryl, own Southfire Newspapers Inc., which publishes five newspapers.  Both are past presidents of the Georgia Press Association.

     These days, Robert is making laps around America as president of the National Newspaper Association.  And when Pierce County named him citizen of the year, the chamber of commerce told him the news on his cell phone.  Robert was in Nebraska giving a speech.  He is the voice of small-town newspapers.

     If you asked me to name the five best community publishers in the country, Robert would be among them. He’s a do-it-all guy.  Robert can out-write, out-sell and out-think the next dozen of his peers.  Want to spank an out-of-line public official? Robert can make the words jump off the editorial page.  And when it comes to marketing, he’s a one-man pizzazz machine.  

     How do I know?

     We’ve been friends, neighbors and business partners. I’ll never forget his call in 1973.  “There’s a newspaper in Florida that you and I should buy,” he said.  I doubt we had an extra thousand dollars between us.  Still, in our youthful exuberance, we raced to Callahan to negotiate with the owners of the Nassau County Record.  

     A banker and his lead director bought the newspaper for their wives to operate.  Before long, the wives gave their husbands an ultimatum: “Get rid of that paper or we’re gone.”  The bankers were motivated sellers, lending us 100 percent of the purchase price.  Then we borrowed $5,000 more to operate.   Try that today.

     Not long afterwards, Robert was in another bank, trying to sell an ad.  Sitting in the cashier’s office, Robert saw a masked Mutt and Jeff walk into the Patterson Bank.  One was toting a sawed-off shotgun.  “This must be a prank,” Robert thought.  But he thought otherwise, when he and the bank employees were sprawled on the floor.