This article was contributed by Union-Bulletin City Editor and Whitman alumnus Alasdair Stewart ’94.
If you’re a newspaper guy like me and somebody asks, “How do I keep up with what’s going on in Walla Walla?” the three-word answer is easy: “Read the newspaper.”
The paper’s a great place to start, but as much as we cover in the Union-Bulletin, I personally would never rely on the paper for the whole picture. When I was a student, I read the paper off and on, and I also spent a lot of time walking around town at pretty much all hours of the day. And I talked to people.
You want to know what’s happening in the Valley? Try hitting a different convenience store, espresso stand, lunch counter, grocery store or gas station each week and take some time to shoot the breeze with the people behind the counter and in line. If you’re a church sort, hook into a local parish or congregation and join the choir or another sub-group that gives you person-to-person contact with your non-Whittie associates.
And try doing all this on foot, rain or shine.
In this town, which is a throwback in many ways to previous eras, you really can’t miss by being sociable and walking around a lot.
I have a high tolerance for walking, though, and you might not share that affliction. So here’s a cheat sheet for the homebodies:
Get access to the Union-Bulletin. You can get a print or online subscription or read it at the library. You can also read a few stories online each month without a subscription and you can check it out on Facebook and get a pretty good idea of what’s up without having to cough up any money. Of course, you’ll get a better experience if you pay up, and you’ll support a bunch of alumni at the same time.
Read the Tri-City Herald, online or in print. They carry a lot of U-B stories and have good original reporting about our region.
Keep an eye on alternative information sources, such as the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Burger, Democracy Burger and Walla Walla News and Views on Facebook. I urge you to take what you read in these places with at least one grain of salt. They would say the same about the U-B.
If you want to really hook into what’s up in the Valley, you’ll need to invest more than a couple hours of reading a week and some walkabout time. At the last paper I worked at, in southern New Hampshire, I needed to sell some of the rookie reporters on the value of going to municipal meetings in the rinky-dink towns in our coverage area. But the sell was actually pretty easy: one or two meetings and they saw the light. You just can’t substitute anything for seeing how the local gears of government turn to gain insight into the community––not to mention finding out what’s going to happen in town before most everybody else.
Try hitting a meeting of the county commission, city council, school board or the Port of Walla Walla. Homebodies can tune into some of the action online, but being there in person gives you the chance to ask questions and chat with the few other members of the citizenry who show up.
When I was a fraternity pledge, our pledge manual, matriculated by the national organization, intoned that membership wasn’t merely a four-year interlude. I don’t know about that––my brothers include plenty of people I haven’t spoken to since we parted ways on campus––but for the engaged member, the connections could last a lifetime. I see a parallel in how I’ve fit into the places I’ve lived.
Where I’ve been linked in to a community, I still care about what’s happening, and I think that’s been a great asset in my work life, if not in the personal sphere.
An added plus here in Walla Walla: It’s never a long walk.
