CROWN JEWEL
Imperial's
Crown Jewel It is our wish at Sodbuster to feature interesting people from Southwest Nebraska. In each issue, we will introduce a "Crown Jewel" of the area. As this is our first issue, we decided the first member would be our editor, Jennifer Crown. Jennifer is a quiet person that prefers to stay out of the spotlight. Therefore, it took some arm-twisting from the rest of us for her to allow this article. It is partly because of her hard work and abilities that Sodbuster has turned from a dream into a reality in a few short weeks. Jennifer, Sodbuster salutes you as our first Crown Jewel. On a Saturday morning in the old Chase County Hospital, Jennifer came into this world. In a display of her unique sense of humor, Jennifer made this remark about her birth, "Great way to start a relaxing weekend, huh?" She is the youngest of five children born to Thaine and Florence Crown. Jennifer says, "I was the tiebreaker," referring to the fact that she has two older brothers and two older sisters. Her father, Thaine Sr., was the business teacher and golf coach at Chase County High School for many years until he retired in 1982. Florence is a nurse's aide. Many of Jennifer's fondest memories of her childhood were the regular summer excursions in the camper. Each summer, the family took vacations throughout the Western United States. Jennifer is thankful to her parents for these adventures. "I've had the wonderful opportunity to visit every state west of the Missouri River. Not every child had that chance." Other memories include writing. She says, "it seems I was built from birth to have a passion for writing and working with the written word." While most children were spending all their time playing, Jennifer was already writing stories when she was only eight years old. She continued to pursue her love of writing throughout her school days. While attending high school, she participated in several creative writing ventures and contests. For college, she made the obvious choice to major in English. In 1988, Jennifer graduated with an associate degree in English from McCook Community College. She continued her courses for two more years at Chadron State College where she studied Elementary Education and history. Upon ending her formal education, Jennifer took a job with the Chadron/Dawes County Economic Development Corporation. Part of her duties in this position helped to hone her writing skills and prepare her as an editor. She assisted in grant-writing and edited the organizational newsletter. Several years later, Jennifer returned to her hometown of Imperial. Besides her duties as editor, Jennifer does temporary secretarial work. She also enjoys several hobbies, two of which are photography and music. Jennifer became the editor of Sodbuster because of her love of writing. "I love the written word, whether reading, writing or editing, so any opportunity I get to work with it is usually a thrill." However, her reason transcends her personal interest. Jennifer feels strongly about the talent, ideas, and values of the people of Southwest Nebraska. She believes "the general public in Southwest Nebraska is stifled, as far as having ways to express themselves publicly. I am hoping Sodbuster alleviates that. I want Sodbuster to be a magazine for the readers (very interactive) as well as a fantastic launching pad for area writers and journalists." It is Jennifer's intent that Sodbuster "be an online representative of the general nature of Southwest Nebraskans." Eventually she hopes our magazine can expand its audience to all of Nebraska, the Midwest, and perhaps beyond, with the freedom the Internet brings. To compare Sodbuster with other publications, Jennifer pictures it as "a cross between an upstanding, fair news magazine, Reader's Digest and Grit." We are glad we have one of Imperial's Crown Jewels as our editor. Don't be surprised if you or your neighbors appear in this section, and join Jennifer as A Crown Jewel of Southwest Nebraska. If you know of someone who deserves to be featured as a Crown Jewel, let us know. Sodbuster is as much a voice of the reader as it is for those actively involved. |