Weather the recession by pulling together

Yes, folks. The recession is real!

This is not a great revelation to most of you, but recent events really brought this point home to all of us at the Valley Post when Richard A. Boehne, the president and chief executive of our parent corporation, the E.W. Scripps Company, declared the nation's economy "busted" Wednesday in a company-wide letter to all employees that also announced wage reductions, a pension plan freeze and suspension of the company's match to its employees' individual 401 (k) plans.

Although the Valley Post and its big sister publication, the Record Searchlight, remain viable, strong and revenue generating components of the larger corporation, we all share the same burden when it comes to these across-the-board cost reductions because we are part of something larger than ourselves.

As Boehne stated in his letter, "Scripps has been a vibrant and successful company for 130 years and we intend to be around as an industry leader and attractive employer for many more years to come."

But it is time for a little belt tightening.

"Our economy is busted at the moment and recovery won't come without pain," Boehne continued. "There's reason to trust that our current sacrifices can result in future dividends for all (of) us who help create the next successful chapter of the news industry and the E.W. Scripps Company," he concluded.

The silver lining in all of this is that nobody at the Valley Post was laid off.

Not one person was furloughed.

No one had a reduction of hours.

We are well aware that this situation is being duplicated in nearly every business and household that reads either our weekly newspaper or logs on to our Web site (www.andersonvalleypost.com.).

What we should all remember is that none of us is going through this alone. We are all in this together.

However, to ensure that the majority, if not all, of us survive these hard times, let us not forget that we, too, are all part of something - our neighborhoods, our communities and our South County region - that is larger than ourselves, our individual families and our locally-owned businesses.

We must pull together, support each other's best efforts, educate ourselves to the opportunities that are still out there, learn from one another the secrets of success and gently teach those who will heed our advice how best to overcome these tough times.

The Valley Post, which in one form or another has been gathering the news and serving the advertising needs of the South County community for 127 years, has certainly seen tough times before this.

We are certainly grateful for your trust in us to continue to tell your stories, promote your businesses, support your event or fundraiser, fairly evaluate your opinions and endorse those ideas, concepts and projects with the most promise of the greatest public good.

We will continue to speak out for the silent, stand up for the downtrodden and protect the innocent. We will do our best to shine a light on improper activities, root out corruption, expose injustice, uphold the community's morals, applaud the good deeds of all those who deserve praise and alert all to changes that may affect our lives and livelihoods.

Together, we remain strong and able to weather fire, flood, storm and economic misfortune because we know that we can rely on our friends and neighbors to rally in support of our efforts to reclaim, rebuild and strengthen our community for all who participate in it.

To echo Boehne's sentiments expressed above, the Valley Post intends to be around as a community leader and active South County participant for many more years to come.