By Valerie Sliker, Courtesy Wagener Monthly
With great sadness, I have to announce that this 231st edition of the Wagener Monthly is our final one. I’m full of gratitude for my readers, advertisers, columnists, editors and the publisher. The Wagener Monthly has been a presentation of the Aiken Standard which is owned by Evening Post Industries and published by Rhonda Overbey. I’m very thankful for the dedicated work from Karen Klock, Presentations Editor. I’m pretty sure I have given her more than a few gray hairs.
Dee Taylor started the Wagener Monthly at the suggestion of Scott Hoover just over nineteen years ago while Scott Hunter was the publisher of the Aiken Standard. Taylor credits Hunter, her mentor, for getting the paper approved and published. It wouldn’t have happened without him.
Hoover’s Flooring had an ad in every single issue and for that, I thank you Scott and Sandra. Taylor fondly recalls conversations with Scott Hoover in which they dreamed of what could be possible. She was working days as an ad manager at the Aiken Standard at the time.
For Taylor and myself, the Wagener Monthly was, and has been, a labor of love. For Taylor, it was a family affair. “My favorite delivery person was my mom (Brenda Wooten).” Taylor said, “It was a tough job hauling those heavy newspaper bundles to over forty locations. She was in her early seventies at the time.” Wooten is still very active among her church and community. Thank you, “Nanny Brenda” for your part in getting this paper started.
Taylor fondly remembers the early days. “People would almost knock me down to get a paper when I delivered them. That would be all I needed to keep going. Kids in Wagener were doing such good things. They enjoyed seeing their photos in the paper and being recognized. That was so special for me. There were so many kids delivering papers and so many people submitting articles. It was something that united the community as well.”
After 16 years, Taylor resigned and I replaced her as Content Director for the past 3 years. I was inexperienced and quite certain this Yankee girl could never fill the graceful shoes of that Southern Belle, but I tried. It has been my immense pleasure to sit and talk with you marvelous people and get your stories into print. I’ve had the best of luck to dig into the history of this town and become acquainted with the people who have had ancestors working hard for this community for many generations.
I also have had the privilege of speaking with our young people and sharing their accomplishments and dreams. Both preserving history and supporting our future have been the primary focus of this paper. Please continue sharing with me for publication on WagenerSC.com. Even though you can’t snap open a website and smell the print while you drink your morning coffee, into the digital age we must go.
Thank you to every one of you beautiful readers. Serving you has been my pleasure.