Twenty-five years ago, I was a very quiet, very shy teenager who had an interest in working in the newspaper field. I called my hometown newspaper and asked the editor if she had a job opening. She told me to come in and do some filing and inventory and, 25 years later, I’m still working for the company.
In those early days, I did lots of things, including proof reading, typing, clerical duties and putting up the Christmas decorations. In the two and a half decades since then, I’ve worked at all six of the newspapers the company owns at one time or another. I once did a recipe column feature for The Commerce News. I covered the board of education meeting in Danielsville for The Madison County Journal for a while. I’ve covered board of commission meetings in Winder for The Barrow Journal and I continue to edit copy for The Braselton News, as well as occasionally covering events in West Jackson. My main duties these days are serving as editor of The Banks County News and associate editor of The Jackson Herald. I cover county government in both counties, as well as several city councils and handling crime and court. I edit most everything that goes in both papers, as well as writing a column, overseeing page layout and many other things each week. In my 25 years with the company, I figure I have covered almost 3,000 meetings and written thousands of other features and news stories.
I’ve also written a couple of thousand columns, so our readers know many things about me. Most folks know that I love cats, traveling, my nephews, my family, food, and most importantly of all, God.
As I finish up my 25th year with the company, I decided to write the very popular Facebook list of “25 things people don’t know about me.” Most everyone on Facebook has filled out a list of 25 things people don’t know about them and shared it. This is also a popular feature in an entertainment magazine with celebrities trying to come up with 25 things people don’t know about them. So, here goes my list of 25 things I think our readers don’t know about me.
1. I was once in an elevator with Wilmer Valderrama, an actor most known for portraying Fez on “That 70s Show.” I didn’t say anything to him. I’ve always wished that I had.
2. I haven’t slept in a bed for years. I sleep on my couch. I’m not sure why I do this.
3. I wash my hands a lot. I didn’t realize this until a few years ago when a friend pointed it out to me.
4. Pickled okra is one of my favorite things to eat. I can eat a jar of it in a meal. I don’t do that but I could.
5. I rode in a speed boat race in South America with a driver that could not speak English. I can't swim or speak Spanish.
6. I climbed to the top of an active volcano. Thank goodness it wasn't active that day.
7. I rode in the pace car at Bristol, Tennessee.
8. I am scared to ride on a chair lift.
9. I was asked to laugh continuously for a taping at the Blue Collar Comedy Show.
10. I almost never learned to drive. I hit the house, flattened Cousin Heather's tricycle and killed the family tree.
11. I once drove the wrong way down a one-way highway. I wish I could say I was out of town but I was in Banks County and it wasn’t that long ago.
12. I took walking as a PE class when I was a student at the University of Georgia.
13. I had my wisdom teeth taken out one year on Christmas Eve by Dr. Steven King.
14. I went to New York City for 24 hours. It was a whirlwind trip to see a show that I had tickets for.
15. I once drove to South Georgia with a deer head in a cooler in the back of my car. Don’t’ ask.
16. A doctor once yelled at me and made me cry. I had a really bad sore throat and he stuck this tube down my throat without warning me. When I jumped, he yelled at me.
17. I’m scared of driving over bridges. I have been known to pull over right before going over a bridge and insisting that someone else in the car drive.
18. I want to be a drummer in a rock and roll band. Of course, I have no musical ability at all.
19. I start Christmas shopping each January and try to finish up by the summer.
20. I was stuck in a small elevator one time with 10 other people.
21. My first job was at age 15 when I was a waitress at my aunt’s restaurant.
22. I think social chit chat is pointless.
23. I have 20 first cousins. The one who lives the farthest away from me lives in Budapest, Hungary. I also have cousins living in Colorado, New Mexico and Ohio.
24. I didn’t learn to fix my own hair, which is naturally curly and very unruly, until I was in college. I still struggle with it.
25. I stay up late and do random chores. I once organized my sock drawer at 2 a.m.
Angela Gary is editor of The Banks County News and associate editor of The Jackson Herald. She can be reached at AngieEditor@aol.com.
