by Steve Dunford

One of the best ways that I can find out what is happening in the world and getting links to potential stories is to troll social media.  I only do Facebook and Twitter.  I am on Instagram, and still don’t know how.  I don’t plan on getting a snap chat account.  I want to make inroads with people, and not scare them away with my selfies.

I always go through the memories part.  I came across this post about an hour ago.  It was when Jim Muir launched this website.  Here is a link to the initial story that was ran on this webpage.  Click on the link below to read this.

Welcome to franklincounty-news.com

I can tell you exactly where I was when I read this post.  I was sitting in what was an office/den that I had.  I was watching Cardinal Baseball on a portable TV and was scrolling trough Facebook.

Five years later, I had no idea that I would be working on this website, let alone a member of the media.

My life has changed drastically since that time.  I lost my drivers license because of health issues.  I live alone.  I live in West Frankfort now.

I know I butcher the English language bad at times, but when I look back at things that I have written from the day I started until now, I have came a long way.

I was a C English student in College.  I had to take the ACT four times in High School for two reasons.  First I was trying to get a 25 to become an Illinois State Scholar.  Second to get my English score high enough to avoid taking remedial English at Rend Lake College.

I never had one journalism class in my life, but I hope that over the nine months that I have worked on the site, is to give you the news and information that you the people of Franklin County need to know in your everyday lives.

I know the owner-publisher Jim Muir went into this field at mid life as well.  He did what most people did in Franklin County at the time after high school, or shortly after, went to work in the coal mines.

When Old Ben 21 shut down, Jim reinvented himself, and through taking some courses at Rend Lake College became a long time award winning member in print and broadcast media.

There are days that I wonder how I am going to keep the website full, and there are days that I am like where do I begin.  Today, is one of those where do I begin days, and I love every minute of it.

I might not drive, but at one stage or another, I have had ties with nearly every community in this county.  There is not a back road in the county that I have not traveled.

I want to give recognition to who recognition is due, and want to know what is going on in each of your communities.  You can contact me by sending me a message on Facebook. e-mail me at sdunford1970@hotmail.com, call me at 937-0253, or send me a text at 513-1274.

To continue and improve, we will need some more sponsors of this site.  An aggressive advertising campaign will be launched soon, with possibly an account executive that will be added.  The website has over 5,000 followers on its Facebook page, and an average of 25,000 households, on any given week, will be reached in Franklin and the surrounding counties.

At this time, this website is the only daily publication in Franklin County.

The sky is the limit for potential growth.  I want to thank all of you whether reader or advertiser, for the past, current, and future success of this website.

I also want to thank you all for over the last nine months in the confidence you have placed in me for giving you accurate news to the best of my ability, especially in the crisis and emergency situations that we as the people of Franklin County have faced over the last nine months.

As a reader, and over the last few months as a news/sports reporter it has been an excellent five years, again thank you.

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I Am A Coach’s Wife

(Renae Zimmer-  Here is an excerpt from her blog.  Please click on the link to read the full story.  Here is an excerpt.

The Zimmer family

I am a coach’s wife.  I signed up for it, back when we were young and stupid and didn’t have a penny to our name.  I said yes to an awesome guy and yes to being a coach’s wife.

I love sports, that is the beauty. I can follow my husband’s job and cheer on his team.  I’m invested.

Some of the disadvantages, however, are seeing the struggles of coaches these days from all levels, but on the high school level, it can be brutal.  We have seen the good, the bad and the ugly in the past 20 plus years.

by Steve Dunford

West Frankfort Redbirds Logan Tomanovich and Trey Snyder in last years playoff game at Canton (WSIL-TV photo)

Tomorrow night Friday Night Lights begin.  I am pumped as it is my second year of covering High School football.   Before then, I have been a stringer on a few games.

I have been to a few games before, but this is the day I fell in love.  I was at the old football field in Zeigler for a state semi-final game in 1982.  Through the playoff trail, I began to follow the Zeigler-Royalton Tornadoes in the pursuit of the class 1A State Championship.  Before that day, I have listened to every playoff game, as Mike Murphy followed them on WJPF.

After That, I spent a lot of Friday nights at Tabor Field and Johnson Field, it was according to whether Benton or West Frankfort was at home.  If both of them were, several of us from Thompsonville would pick the best game.   If both were on the road the gang of us that would be somewhere every Friday night we could, made a couple trips to Christopher, Sesser-Valier, and McLeansboro (before the Hamco days.)

If you have in the past or you are taking the field tomorrow night, you have an opportunity that I wish that I had, the chance to play high school football.

I was putting on a flag football clinic my senior year at Thompsonville High School in P.E. class.  I just passed for something like my sixth touchdown.  The teacher/AD/head basketball coach said the superintendent at the time, O.J Thompson, who played for the Denver Broncos in the 60’s  went over his head and entered a co-op agreement with West Frankfort.

The next thing out the P.E. teachers mouth was, if you are going to be a Redbird, you will not be a Tiger.  I said it is too late for me.  He then said Dunford and went on a two minute tirade, and the only think I can repeat was he called me a pretty boy and a sissy.

I told him, even if I had a “Rudy Moment” (not exact quote at the time, the movie came out several years later,) I would love to put my helmet on and run on the field one time.

The co-op ended when West Frankfort left the South Seven to become part of the Southern Illinois River to River.  Later Thompsonville and Crab Orchard had a co-op with Johnston City.  When it bumped JC from 2A to 4A, and a playoff date with Mt. Carmel, the co-op ended the next year.

Several years later, I had the awesome opportunity to speak to some high school football teams.  I use the Rudy illustration.  I tell them it was a privilege that I did not have.

I received a text from my son in the summer of 2015.  He told me that he was going out for football.  I told him even if you get in one game on special teams, you will fulfill something that I wished I could.

Tomorrow night, I will be in the press box at Johnson field covering the West Frankfort-Anna Jonesboro game.  Because of logistics, my coverage will be heavily on the Redbirds.  However, I will write the story as I am covering the game for both teams.

Each week, I will do a preview of each game of the four programs in Franklin County.  I am going to release the pre-season preview for the four programs either tonight or tomorrow.

I had Monday slated to contact all the coaches in the SIRR Ohio and Black Diamond and preview the whole conference.   I had this on the docket for Monday, but I was a little busy giving traffic reports from places in Franklin County that I never have before.

I have reached out to all four opposing coaches of the counties four programs.  I will hopefully release an SIRR Ohio preview between weeks three and four.  With the Black Diamond, I will have a more extensive preview of the first matchup against C-Z-R or S-V-W-W.

I am pumped  about the start of the season.  For those who will be taking the gridiron as a Devil, Bearcat, Ranger or a Redbird, remember that not only are you an ambassador for your school, but for the whole community as well.

by Steve Dunford

My mom had a saying that drove me nuts as a kid,  if wishers were horses, beggars would ride.  This means people who sit around saying I wish, and never accomplish anything.

This is how I am going to handle the coverage today.  I will be going outside around 11:00 a.m. and look at the sky every 15 minutes or so.  If there is anything to report, I will post it.  Around 1:00 p.m. I am going across the road to the parking lot of Calvary Baptist Church.  I am going to watch the show.  Then, I will follow the same pattern until daylight is restored.

Yes, I started as a sportswriter.  However sharing the news to the people of Franklin and surrounding counties is very fulfilling.  I have never felt more in the will of God than I have right now in this stage of my life.

When I shared a little over a week ago, how communications were strange in 1979 during the partial eclipse, I would be leery if near the event that cell coverage would be weak.  In a perfect world, this is how I will spend the day.

I would love to be out on a lake or a farm.  If on a lake I would love to monitor how the fish would bite before and after the eclipse.  My curiosity would be if channel cats would be feeding right before it.   The perfect spot, would be one of the West Frankfort lakes.  It has been years, but I know in the past where fish bed and where catfish run.

I would love to be on a farm to watch how the livestock behaves, especially if the roosters crow after it is over.

Actually, I am more curious how nature behaves, than the eclipse itself.  Being a weather nerd, I am wondering how the temperature drops, and will the storms be more intense tomorrow.  I am not making a forecast, this is out of curiosity.

God is going to give us an awesome light show today.  Get out and enjoy it, if possible.