WS Chronicle

By Judie Holcomb-Pack

As I started to write about my first “tour” at The Chronicle  in the mid-1990s in celebration of its 50th anniversary, it seemed like it was only a couple years ago that I sat in a cubicle in the Liberty Street building and talked with advertisers about deadlines and ad rates as a sales person and special sections coordinator.

As one of the two or three white people on staff, I was concerned with how I would fit in, but I found I was quickly accepted and became friends with my coworkers. I did experience discrimination, but it was from white people, which always caught me off guard. Once I was in an appliance section of a major department store, along with our photographer, to take photos for a story I was working on about what was new in appliances that year. I had received approval to take photos from the store manager since his store would be mentioned in the article. I was met by a salesperson and as he showed me around his department, he made a comment about me being with the Journal and I corrected him, saying no, I was with The Chronicle. His attitude immediately changed and I saw him go to the phone to confirm we had permission to be there. Then he watched us until we left. Honestly, I don’t know how he thought we’d walk out with a refrigerator!

Those times in the mid-‘90s were the days when the paper was printed out on large sheets and each page pasted up on boards that were taken downstairs to the press room for plates to be made. The paper went on the press on Wednesday morning and when the press started rolling, the floor started shaking. That signified the end of a week and everyone eagerly awaited the first copies hot off the press to read and especially to look for their stories or ads to make sure they were correct. Wednesday afternoon was when we started thinking about the next week’s issue and on Thursday we were hard at it again. 

This was also the “golden age” of special sections. We had a special-themed section almost every week – real estate, health, special events – there was always something we could make into a tab for selling advertising. The advertising department once went to a sales training conference in Kentucky. One of the sessions was on how to reach pet owners and suggested that there was money to be made in holding a contest where people dressed up their pets and submitted the photo which would be run in a special section, along with ads from pet stores and veterinarians. Mike Pitt, the director of advertising for The Chronicle and my boss, could tell I was getting excited about this money-making idea and he quickly leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Black folk don’t dress up their dogs.” 

My “partner in crime” Carol Brooks worked beside me and handled advertising and special promotions. As we reminisced recently, she talked about her favorite memory, the Family Day Reunion. It sounded like a great idea. The problem was with the inaugural event, we had the concept but no details. It was a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants event. Or, as Carol put it, “We were building the plane while we were flying it. We knew what we wanted to accomplish. We knew that family was the bones and wanted to use it as an opportunity to bring families back together.” 

Ernie Pitt’s vision was to have an event that anyone who wanted to participate only had to bring themselves. Carol recalled, “We provided tents, banners, food, stage and entertainment. We provided family-friendly competition like tug-of-war. Food Lion was the main sponsor and supplied the hot dogs, hamburgers and all the food. Chef Don McMillan provided chefs and servers.” As I recalled, families could reserve a tent which we also provided. I still remember the storyteller who sat under a tree and was surrounded by children she was entertaining. Family Day is one of my favorite memories also.

Mike Pitt was always fun to work with and he helped me learn how to sell newspaper ads. It was a challenge to get advertisers outside the community to understand the importance of advertising in The Chronicle. I often heard the comment, “But don’t Black people read the Journal, too?” And I would try to explain how seeing an ad in their community newspaper said “I want your business” and that message wasn’t perceived when it was seen in the daily newspaper. It was a hard sell, but rewarding when advertisers let us know their ad worked.

I’ve always been a news junkie and I love to read the newspaper. Working at the Chronicle gave me my first opportunity to edit submissions and to write stories. I loved putting together the special sections, coming up with topics and people to interview. I loved the atmosphere, the camaraderie, the creativity, and the sound of the press starting up. Ernie Pitt gave me my first real news assignment when he asked me to write about Rev. Michael Curry becoming the bishop of the national Episcopal Church since I was Episcopalian and had met him. I’ll never forget the pride I felt the first time I saw my name in a byline. 

After my short stint at The Chronicle, I returned to my career in marketing and public relations, but I kept my connections with The Chronicle. Before I retired from Crisis Control Ministry in 2014, I got a phone call from Mr. Pitt asking if I could do some editing on a section they had started called For Seniors Only. I was happy to help and knocked it out in a short time. The next month he asked me again … and the month after that. The month I retired I noticed he had put my name on the publication as editor! And that’s how my next tour with The Chronicle began. 

Ten years later I’m still working at The Chronicle and loving it. I consider the Chronicle staff my work family and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet and write about so many amazing people and organizations over the past ten years. 

I’ve always said that The Chronicle is a stepping stone for journalists, photographers, and others who are starting out in their careers. I’m so thankful that my stepping stones came full circle and brought me back to a job I love.

Judie Holcomb-Pack is associate editor of The Chronicle and editor of For Seniors Only. She is a native of Winston-Salem, grew up in the Southside part of town, and graduated from Parkland High School and Forsyth Technical Community College. She is a member of Winston-Salem Writers.