An amazing legacy
Thirty-four years.
That's how long Bud and Marcella Bruce owned the Hillsboro Star-Journal.
It's a long time for any business, but especially for a newspaper. No one who wants to make money goes into the newspaper business. Running a newspaper is a surefire way not to become rich, and it's a surefire way to earn you years of stress, ulcers, and responsibility.
But Bud Bruce held out all those years and more — not just in mediocrity, but at the top of his game. He was involved in every conceivable organization in this county. He held positions of leadership in the Kansas Press Association. This newspaper was, in all likelihood, his life.
Now, five years after his death, Bruce is receiving the honor he deserves by being named into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame.
It's a big honor. That's why we're taking this one chance to "toot our own horn," so to speak.
That's quite a legacy to live up to.
Because the Hillsboro Star-Journal didn't die when Bruce sold it. The newspaper continued, providing local people with the local news that only comes an office located at 104 S. Main in Hillsboro.
Speaking personally, I am truly humbled and honored as a journalist to be working under such a legacy.
It's intimidating, actually. It makes me realize what can be done, and it makes me feel the pressure to accomplish those great things myself.
I feel the same way every time I think of my boss: Bill Meyer, who's won every journalist award possible and whose influence goes far beyond the office of a Kansas weekly.
So we push on — knowing that just as the past has been awesome, the present and future look even better.
This past weekend proved that, with our humble paper garnering some top awards at the KPA convention. And that's in a category of 20 newspapers.
I think Bud Bruce would have liked that.
Yes, the Hillsboro Star-Journal has been through some amazing years, thanks to Bud Bruce.
We've been here for nearly a century, and we'll be here for a century more. Count on it.
— JENNIFER WILSON
