The mission statement of the Advocate News, which hangs outside my office door every day, states — "The mission of the Wilton-Durant Advocate News is to provide information to its readers in an accurate, dependable and professional manner which reflects the uniqueness and similarities of the communities it serves."
Last Wednesday, April 1, I made a decision I never thought I’d have to make. I decided to lock our doors at the Advocate News office.
I should note that our staff here at the AN is healthy and in good spirits, working every day with our mission in mind. Yet in order to flatten this curve, have piece of mind and do our best to remain healthy, we finally decided to permanently close our doors for the time being while in the middle of this COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s the first time in decades, maybe ever, that the doors to your hometown newspaper have been locked. We have the words dependable and community right in our mission statement.
Nothing very dependable about locking our doors. Looking out our big newsroom windows to see customers who cannot come inside doesn’t scream community.
Yet if we are going to beat this virus, if we are going to flatten this curve, we have to take necessary steps. I’ve written for weeks about thinking outside ourselves. This pandemic is so much bigger than you and I. We must all live like we have it.
That’s what we’re doing. We are an essential service. No matter how many more closings come from the powers that be, the news will ALWAYS be deemed essential. So we’re here and we’re working. And we want to be able to do that as long as possible.
We’ve created bright signage to point visitors toward our mail drop box outside our building. Customers are encouraged to use it. Our newsroom can also be reached via email at adnews@netwtc.net or by phone at 563-732-2029. You can even drop a letter in the mail.
I’ve also been putting out a call each week to those in and around our communities being impacted by this virus. Especially to those being diagnosed with it, I’ve made a plea to allow us to tell their stories.
For the first time last week, a very brave couple stepped up to the plate, first telling their story online via Facebook. We at the Advocate News had already heard about Wilton grad Josh Peterson testing positive for COVID-19. But again, check the mission statement — accurate and professional. We weren’t about to go to press with hearsay. But once Josh’s fiancé Taryn Petersen went public with the news, I instantly shared it to our Facebook page.
We certainly weren’t the only ones, as it was shared 457 times — perhaps some kind of record for these small towns. I then reached out to see if we could tell their story. We have. It can be viewed on page 1.
However, Taryn’s post was so thoughtful, detailed and spot on, I wanted to reprint it in our newspaper. We’ve been around 153 years. We want Josh and Taryn’s story on the record for 153 more.
Please take a moment and read her post below. Also understand that this virus now has names. It has faces. It has local stories to tell. It is real and it is relentless. Whether or not we actually get to a “shelter in place” mandate in our state, hear the warnings now. Stay home. Stay safe.
Taryn Petersen on battling COVID-19, in her own words posted to Facebook:
This post is not to scare anybody, but just to make everyone aware of what this virus really is.
WE have tested POSITIVE for the virus, and our bodies handled it completely differently. It isn’t something to take lightly.
Fourteen (14) days ago Josh got extremely high fevers, sore throat, cough, body aches, and could hardly move off of the couch. In 3 years I have never seen him so sick. This lasted for about 8 days.
Laila got a really high fever, started breathing fast and heavy, and had to go into the ER. She recovered within a couple days.
Kannon had extremely mild symptoms.
Everybody kept asking me how I was feeling, and I felt fine. I just felt like I had allergies and had no sense of smell or taste.
Out of nowhere, I woke up and had to take my inhaler. It felt like there was a bunch of bricks just sitting on my chest and it was hard to even have a conversation with Josh. I had a hard, bad cough. I called the U. of Iowa number and was told to call 911 or get to the nearest hospital. I instantly got hooked up to a bunch of machines and had to do breathing treatments. Thankfully the treatments were able to relieve my symptoms but now we have to start our 14 days all over, and then after still be symptom free for 3 days. So now minimum 28 days in the house. We both have terrible coughs, still taking Tylenol, and get exhausted so easily.
We have not been able to see Zealie in 2 weeks, won’t be able to see her on her birthday, or be with any family on Easter. We can’t get our own groceries.
We have made the best out of the situation and play in our yard with the kids or just go on a drive to get a different scenery.
Thankfully I have the MOST AMAZING fiancé and we have just grown closer throughout this crazy experience. We are loving every second together and getting to be with Kannon and Laila. (We would do anything to have Zealie here with us too.)
PLEASE take this seriously. Stop going out carelessly and acting like this virus won’t get you. Stop putting everybody in danger; you never know how the virus could attack their body.
