Nana and Her News

Nana is all about News and Weather. She starts her day by riding her stair chair to the bottom of the steps to snatch the Williamsport Sun Gazette from her door handle. Thanks to neighbor Chuck, her first news of the day is available without even walking outside. 

The Sun Gazette waits on her footstool while she watches WNEP Channel 16 for a replay of the early morning news and weather show. Most days, Joe Snedeker delivers the weather in his clownish style. Nana’s not crazy about him, but suffers through his broadcast to know the weather for the day and week ahead.

Nana saves the Sun Gazette until after breakfast. When I call at 9am, she’s usually just settling into her velvet blue rocker to read. The first thing she does is check the back page for the local weather map. Especially if it’s close to time for my monthly visit, she likes to make sure I know the weather for decisions about packing my clothes.

Nana has another use for the daily newspaper.

                                                                                    
“You know what they say. The newspaper is the best way to make sure you know what day it is.” She laughs about this often on our morning phone call.
 

When you’re retired like Nana, weekdays do tend to all be alike.

The next news update comes at noon, immediately following The Price is Right. Again the choice is WNEP. Marisa Burke delivers the news while Tom Clark reports on the weather. Both have been with Channel 16 for decades and feel like old friends to Nana.

After 1:30pm, Nana makes her daily trip to the Weis Store in Montgomery to get a copy of the Standard Journal. This small paper covers the news ‘down the line’—the towns of Watsontown, Milton and Lewisburg. Nana especially likes to read the Police Blotter to find out if she knows anyone who’s in trouble with the law.

Nana stays up to date all day. At 4pm, WNEP is back on the air with local news and weather—and at 5pm and at 6pm. At 6:30pm Nana likes to watch World News with Brian Williams. It means changing to Channel 28, but Nana only likes Brian—she’s on a first name basis with him it seems— to deliver her World News.

Bedtime for Nana is never before 10:20pm. At 10pm, Nana switches to Channel 16-2 for the Ten o’clock news. She especially likes when Kurt Aaron is giving the weather. As she reminds me, Kurt is a local boy from Hughesville, although this ‘boy’ is probably in his 40’s now. 

In addition to the SunGazette and Channel 16, Nana keeps up with the weekly papers. She subscribes to The Luminary, another small town paper— this one for the Muncy and Montgomery area. During the month, Nana saves the Luminaries for me to take home and read. She used to get me a subscription, but Virginia mail delivery doesn’t appear to make newspapers a priority. Many weeks, my copies were either delivered to a distant neighbor or didn’t arrive at all. I told Nana I was OK getting the news a little late. 

Others papers include the weekly Lycoming Shopper, a free publication with, in my opinion, mostly advertisements. Another free paper, Webb Weekly, arrives by mail on Wednesdays. The founder Jim Webb died a few years ago, but his son Jim Jr. has taken over as editor. Neither of these weeklies interests me, but Nana reads both of them faithfully. 

For someone who’s almost 91, Nana’s desire to stay informed and up-to-date is proof of her continued zest for life.

I appreciate Nana’s interest in the news and weather. Even though I live over 300 miles away, her daily updates keep me feeling connected to her and to my hometown.

Thank You Nana for being all about News and Weather!

Nana and her Sun Gazette
August 2014