You’re just in time for the opening of my newest venture in writing. Welcome to Champaign Uncorked! Here I’ll share with you my appreciation for small town living—specifically in the place I call home … Urbana, Ohio, in verdant Champaign County.

It’s been home since 1979 when I turned from Hoosier to Buckeye upon graduation from Franklin College of Indiana. Answering an ad in Editor & Publisher, I ventured to a place I’d never heard of (though I grew up a short jaunt from Urbana, Indiana—a crossroads with a corny ring to it, and little else).

In Urbana, Ohio, I began my career as general assignment reporter and agriculture editor at the Urbana Daily Citizen—and eventually became managing editor (for more, see About Me). At 22 I saw Urbana as a launch pad.

Then I met a lovely young lady from Urbana, Kay Markley, and fell in love. Now, happily, she’s my wife of 27 years. Our older son, Andy, a senior field biology major at Ohio Northern University, is just a year from embarking on his own career in zoos or wildlife conservation. And our younger son, Alex, is a senior at Urbana High School. He plans to study graphic design in college (by the way, he created the header for this blog).

Back to Kay: she’s the one who nudged me with her usual loving, and relentless, encouragement to advance into the brave new world of social media. With this blog, I’m getting there.

Here, I’ll put my background as journalist to work to spotlight the people, places, businesses, organizations and events of this great community that’s become my landing.

And since this is my blog and I’ll self-promote if I want to, I’ll occasionally aim the spotlight on clients of my freelance marketing and public relations copywriting business, Schenkel Communications … when good writing matters.

Enough promotion. It’s time to celebrate!

Did you know? Champaign County and Urbana, Ohio, inspired the naming of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.