Taking a break, planting a tree to mark a century

"We're doing what?"

That was the general reaction when busy Gazette staffers were pulled away from their deadline work to pose for a picture on one of the Norris Avenue "Islands" near Sen. George Norris' home.

Don't worry, folks, we do this only every 100 years.

Spearheaded by Regional Editor Connie Jo Discoe, the Gazette planted a bur oak -- expected to live 200 years -- in honor of the 100th anniversary of the newspaper, which published its first issue on July 6, 1911.

We shouldn't have been surprised at the staff's reaction; the last 100 years of publications have been about our friends and neighbors, readers far and near, not about us.

But it's appropriate to pause for a moment to remember where we've come from.

The Gazette has been serving McCook and the Golden Plains of Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas since 1911. The newspaper was founded by Harry Strunk and a partner, Burris Stewart. Apparently depressed over additional debt and family problems, Mr. Stewart committed suicide on the day the second issue was printed.

Mr. Strunk, only 19 at the time of the Gazette's origin, persevered in the face of adversity and continued to serve as the newspaper's publisher until his death in 1960.

First known as the Red Willow County Gazette, the newspaper started as a weekly and evolved into a semi-weekly and tri-weekly publication before becoming a daily in 1924.

Five years later, in 1929, the Gazette became the first newspaper in the world to be regularly delivered by airplane. Called "The Newsboy," the plane dropped newspapers in area towns for several months before being damaged in a windstorm and taken out of service.

That's the reason the plane is depicted on the flag and masthead of the paper each day.

One hundred years on, we're continuing the innovative tradition of those who went before us, as well as taking advantage of new electronic possibilities opened up by the advent of the Internet.

The tree will serve as a reminder of all those who have worked so tirelessly over the years to keep Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas connected, and especially the readers and advertisers who have made the Gazette's first 100 years possible.