If you’re just joining us, you can find Chapter 1 (Who is Russ “Wojo” Wojtkiewicz…) and Chapter 2 (… the Brink of Change) on my timeline, where I discuss the ‘Wojtkiewicz Standard’ and the lessons that shaped my life and career.
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The Friday Memo | Chapter 3: The $1,500 Leap of Faith and the Lockwood Luminary

By late 1966, my family was at a breaking point. My father, Gene, realized that full-time college was not the path forward for our family’s survival. Between the bills, the sickness, and the exhaustion of working in the press room and the newspaper office in Bolivar, a change wasn't just needed—it was a necessity.

Then came what I can only describe as Divine Intervention.

The owners of the Bolivar paper my folks worked for also owned a struggling, 4-page weekly in Lockwood, Missouri—a small town of about 800 people. Koil and Molly Rowland, the owners, simply could not justify having multiple weekly newspapers.  They planted the idea seed and offered the Lockwood Luminary to my father. For the "princely sum" of $1,500 (yes, that is sarcasm), my father went into business for himself in early 1967.  After I was in business for myself, I found out how little he paid for the Luminary but in 1967, $1,500 was equivalent to $7,900 in the year 2000.  Still a small sum, but mortgages in 1967 were also $50 and homes only cost about $18,000!  And my Mother and Father simply didn’t have $1,500 in cash sitting around!

My Father moved us to a town where we knew no one, to run a business he had no formal training in, and started out in debt and from scratch. My father wasn't a "literary" type who dreamed of writing the great American novel. He was an administrative mind with a high-level technical aptitude and tons of “street smarts”.  Which is common sense and success through hard work and trial and error.

He was smart. And he was fearless.

That first year was incredibly difficult. I watched my parents persevere through times that would have broken many marriages. Dad didn’t let the local bank president talk him into buying an expensive press he couldn’t afford. Instead, he engineered a smarter way: he contracted the printing to a paper in Marshfield, Missouri. This move didn’t just save money; it connected him with a fraternity of fellow newspaper publishers who helped him master the industry.

By 1970, that "struggling" 4-page paper had become a 24-page weekly edition with a circulation of 3,000. It was the Dade County government paper of record.  The Christmas edition was printed in three colors: Black, Red & Green —a massive technical feat for a small-town shop in the late 60s.  How did the “government help”?  By constantly raising fourth-class postage rates on publications and demanding the publishers stamp and sort before delivering it down the street to the Post Office.  Essentially having the small business do the job the USPS was supposed to do!  Sound familiar? Government asking you to pay more for less service is a system I’ve been watching my entire life—and it’s one I intend to fix.

My father taught me that you don’t need a "government-funded" safety net to succeed. You need a plan, a willingness to learn the mechanics of the system, and the courage to keep the "presses" running when things get tough.

Coming Monday in Chapter 4: Three Colors, County Records, and the Secretary of State.

#MondayMemo #PlatteCounty #WojoForClerk #LeapOfFaith #SmallBusinessGrit #TheWojtkiewiczStandard #SystemsNotPolitics