A Sharing of Memories service will be held Friday evening in Mohall for LaVonne Erickson.
For the past 25 years, Erickson was owner, publisher, and editor of the weekly newspaper The Renville County Farmer. She passed away March 18 at the age of 68.
“…And she did it, you know, primarily by herself. She had usually just one part-time staffer. Other than that, it was LaVonne. She was very active in the community. She was on numerous boards. And she was very involved in sports when she was younger. And then out of school and that, she became coaching staff and always supportive. She covered sports and attended sporting events like crazy.”
Renee Duckett and her husband Mike are the new owners of the paper.
Duckett says for a while she worked with Erickson. And when she heard Erickson was ill and the paper was going up for sale, she did some soul-searching.
“…I was doing everything I could to talk myself out of buying it, honestly. It was at a point in our age where I thought maybe we did not need to start this. But I just couldn't talk myself out of it. So that's where we are. So here we sit.”
Duckett says county newspapers are still valued by their communities and hold a special place in people's hearts. She says Erickson knew that and kept the community service spirit in her work at the newspaper and in her life.
Duckett says while she wants to stay true to Erickson's vision, there is room for growth. She says that includes the long-sought creation of a presence on the Internet.
“…I do value continuity, especially for a paper as old as ours.
I think that's something I do want to keep to a certain degree, but I also have a lot of new ideas for new features, and I just want to introduce those kind of slowly. I'm not going to come in and take over the paper and change the entire thing and make it look unfamiliar. I'd like it to be familiar, but also growing and also evolving.”
Duckett says they print somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 copies of The Farmer each week. For Prairie Public, I'm Todd McDonald.