How I ended up in Porterville

When I first came to Porterville for a job interview, I turned the wrong way on Olive Avenue, heading west instead of east. That was 34 years ago. I as wind down my career in newspapers, I am taking some time to reflect on my years — most here at The Recorder.

In the fall of 1983, I actually came to Porterville to apply for the sports editor position. That was the ad I responded to and for which Editor Bob Moyle had me come to town. I was then editor of a weekly paper in Lemoore and had reached a point I knew I needed to get into a daily paper.

It was not until after Mr. Moyle and I spoke that he said he was also looking for a managing editor and I might fit that job as well. He then had me meet with Publisher Harry Kelly. I met with him in the office I now occupy today.

I could say the rest is history, but I won’t. Needless to say, I was offered the job as managing editor and was glad to accept. It paid more than sports editor. While I got into journalism to be a sports writer, I had become a general news reporter and then editor as well. I still loved writing sports, but I found covering hard news was just as rewarding.

I had been managing editor for just a few months when Mr. Moyle took me aside and said he was going to retire soon and he wanted me to replace him as editor. That came with being the Saturday editor as well and I vividly recall that first Saturday putting out the paper.

I became editor in the middle of 1986 and held that position until the fall of 1998 when a new publisher was brought to The Recorder. That publisher felt we focused too much on the local news and we needed to be more worldly in our approach, which meant less local news. He also said he was bringing in a new editor and I would go back to being managing editor. I left The Recorder before that happened and became editor of the Tulare Advance Register.

I stayed away from Porterville until 2010 when then publisher Mark Fazzone, whom I had come to know, said his editor was leaving and wondered if I’d be interested in coming back.

I took him up on the offer and came back as editor in October of 2010,. It felt as if I had never been away. I was then named publisher when new owners took over in 2013.

Over the years I have come to know Porterville fairly well, especially its history. I definitely know downtown is east of Highway 65, not west.

Having known Bill Rodgers, Babe Hodsgon, Jeff Edwards, Bill Horst and others who can recall this town’s history in a flash, I learned a lot about its history.

I have been here — and covered — some of the biggest stories for the past 35 years. I was here for the big drug bust in 1988 when 500 pounds of pure Colombian cocaine was found in the back of a pickup camper parked at a storage facility. I was here when Bonnie Hood was found murdered at the Camp Nelson Lodge. I was here for the big freeze of 1990-91 and when Walmart announced it was going to build a distribution center here in 1991. I covered more homicides than I care to remember and stood with the principals of Bank of the Sierra when their headquarters burned more than 30 years ago.

I have met countless community leaders and community characters. There are probably a few I have met I will soon forget, but there will always be those you never forget. I have made many friends.

I met my wife and married her here and our daughter was born here. She began her education here and I will not forget her being misplaced for a while on her first day of school. I still get reminded of that by school leaders.

I have had many fine journalists pass through The Recorder and I am not even going to attempt to name them because I don’t want to take a chance of leaving someone out. Except for a just a couple, all did their jobs exceptionally and were dedicated to not just The Recorder, but the community as well.

Over the next three weeks I will write more about my years as a journalist, but wanted to start with Porterville, which will always have a special place in my heart.

Rick Elkins is publisher and editor of the Porterville Recorder. He can be reached at 784-5000, ext. 1040, or by email at relkins@portervillerecorder.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.