Spending much of my youth on a southern Ohio farm, I didn’t think the barnyard would be for me when I grew up.

Little did I know, but I would eventually become a “farmer” of a different variety.

See, here at The Ironton Tribune we “produce” fresh news daily. (OK, maybe that is kind of corny but it is very true.)

The staff is on a little different schedule than your typical farmer, but the end result is the same — to grow an appealing product that your friends and neighbors can’t get enough of.

Just like a real farmer, we plant seeds, only ours are for story ideas and advertising campaigns. Each day we harvest the product and send it to the market for you, the consumer.

From the classified department to the newsroom, from advertising to circulation and production, each and every farm hand at the Tribune works to cultivate a crop of newspapers that are vital to our lives here in Lawrence County.

The Ironton Tribune has provided the freshest news to the community for 150 years and plans to do so for 150 more.

No one likes old fruits and vegetables. We feel the same way about our news.

We try to bring our readers and all of Lawrence County the freshest news product six days a week. After all, we are the county’s only award-winning, hometown newspaper and we take great pride in that.

The Tribune has been the named the best small newspaper in Ohio two of the past three years and have amassed more than 40 state Associated Press awards over the past three years.

Sharp-eyed motorists may have seen billboards popping up across the county that tout our product.

But we aren’t just tooting our own horn for selfish reasons. We are trying to showcase all our great advertisers so that Lawrence County residents can see all the wonderful things going on right here at home and the interesting people who call the region home.

Travelers may have also seen another billboard that features one of our key advertisers, Bob Clyse. Hopefully, the partnership between the Tribune and Clyse has everyone’s engine roaring.

Who else can say they are giving away a truck at the Lawrence County Fair?

For the third year in a row, the Ironton car dealer and the county’s best newspaper are giving back to the community by offering one lucky person the chance to drive away with a free truck.

Bob is one of countless local business owners who understand the value of community involvement.

This partnership is simply about doing something good for the region and creating some buzz for the fair, something that will hopefully draw people to the wonderful event and allow them to see what hundreds of Lawrence County youth are doing.

Truly, it is the children and the people of Lawrence County that make this county special — and even more reason to keep your money right here at home.

The Tribune contributes more than $1 million a year to the local economy, providing nearly two dozen jobs, paying taxes and supporting countless events for the community.

The list goes on and on: Little Leagues, high school bands, civic clubs, Ohio University Southern, The Greater Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, the Friends of Ironton, the Lawrence County Agricultural Society are just a few of the organizations that we support.

All decisions are made right here based on what is best for the region and we put our money right back into the community.

See, we believe that being a good community citizen is also like farming. And we are committed to helping all of Lawrence County grow.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Ironton Tribune. To reach him, call (740) 532-1445 ext. 24 or by e-mail at mike.caldwell@irontontribune.com.