Four girl scout youngsters and their leader took a tour of the goings-on at the Citizen-Tribune newspaper offices Wednesday to earn pins and badges.

 

Eighth-graders Annika Davidson, Sarah Schmidt and Brynn O’Connor and ninth-grader Madison Eich joined leader Jean Schmidt as they learned about how a newspaper is comprised, put together, printed and delivered.

 

The girls first visited with receptionist Roberta Hibbison, who gave a brief history of the Citizen-Tribune, then escorted the scouts through the building to see the different departments.

 

Hibbison introduced the young ladies to Chris Meyer, the office bookkeeper, then had them meet the two salespeople, Dick Behm and Mary Nehring.

 

A brief description of the graphics department by Hibbison led her to writer Bill Morgan’s office for a quick Q&A.

 

The girls were interested in how the Citizen-Tribune “finds” stories and how they get prioritized on a page. They also asked what subjects get covered and who in the office is responsible for putting it all together.

 

Morgan answered questions and mentioned a lot of the decision-making comes down to Editor Gary Meyer and what he deems as the most important stories and where they will get placed throughout the 18-to-20-page publication.

 

Jean Schmidt said the girls are working closely with members of the Becker Area Senior Center (BASC) to publicize their events and bring more exposure to the group. Her scouts wondered how they could get the Citizen-Tribune to feature more stories from the seniors activities.

 

Schmidt also explained the fact the scouts — both on the boys side as well as the girls — have seen dwindling numbers as far as participation from the youth and parents and hope to get the community behind the group’s efforts in building the program back to its excellence.

 

 

The scouts visiting the newspaper Wednesday were asked at the end of the tour if they had learned anything from their outing.

 

They resoundly said, “yes!”

 

The staff at the Citizen-Tribune want to express our appreciation for the girls’ visit and hope the information they garnered from the tour helps them in their journey towards future service awards.