Evolution of SoKingNews, SKCGS Newsletter

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By MaryLynn Strickland

How to begin a story or an article is usually the first thought for a writer.  The overall temper of the article may be set with specific facts or points of interest in mind, but that crucial opening sentence or paragraph can be difficult to phrase.

So too in this article but there is another element—how to close.  This is the last issue of SoKingNews as we have come to know it.  No longer will the quarterly collection of articles and notices about interest groups be emailed to members and interested societies with whom we have exchanged information.  But this is not a sad event because SKCGS has been transitioning to a new format—the weekly blog!

Since September society members have been contributing articles to the weekly blog.  If you have been following you may have enjoyed learning about the Black Diamond Historical Museum or Fiske Genealogical Library.  Maybe you got some new tips about using genealogical software or technology.  The article about Italian Migration was like a private lesson in history, straight from the presenter to you.

Members are sharing stories from their family trees such as Grandma Worked on the Railroad.  The articles about Franklin, the Company Coal Mining Town were the result of research begun several years ago.  It took this new format to be able to present them properly.

Contributors to the blog are your fellow society members, sharing their thoughts and experiences.  This is an opportunity for each of you to express your stories, tell of a humorous ancestor or a tragic event.  If it is of interest to you, it will probably be of interest to many others and should be told.  Readers may gain insight about history, geography, social dynamics and just plain nostalgia.  Please contact Barbara Mattoon to share your story.

So, on a day with achy joints, blurry eyesight and mixed emotions, I put this final issue “to bed,” the media’s jargon for finishing an issue.  It has been my honor to present SoKingNews through its evolution these past years.  And it is with joyous anticipation that I look forward to reading the wealth of stories you, the members of this society, have to contribute to the further evolution of our news media.

MaryLynn Strickland

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