Robert Weygandt

I would like to step away from news about Placer County for a moment and reminisce about a man who had a positive impact on Lincoln and its community through the local newspaper.

Eldridge Franklin Trott was the former owner, editor and publisher of The Lincoln News Messenger back when Lincoln was a small town community with a population of 3,200 people.

I am sorry to say that we recently lost Eldridge but his legacy continues today, unfolding among the pages that report on Lincoln’s near 50,000-strong community.

Local news connects our communities and that for me is at the heart of what Eldridge represented.

Eldridge embedded himself into the community to get a sense of its pulse. He spent time getting to know people and cover everything from high school sports to local businesses and holidays.

Eldridge’s reporting was a critical part of tightening the fabric of the community. Back in those days, our community was one big family, so appearing in the local newspaper carried a lot of weight, good news and bad.

I remember when Eldridge reported on our high school basketball team’s success (I was an enthusiastic fan, not a member). Our team was undefeated in league play. He took the time to recognize the players, which in turn was read, mirrored and amplified by the community.

His reporting was more than news - he made people ponder life and our community’s future.

The news media has changed a great deal since the paper was under Eldridge’s helm. While today’s press has its benefits of timeliness and availability in print and digital form, just to name a few, the local print business landscape is changing.

Many communities across this great nation are losing their local newspaper due to revenue loss and competition, which is a shame.

Our local papers are finding their way through this change, sometimes not very easily, but they provide an invaluable service and I hope we all can continue to support them.

I really appreciate our local journalists who are following in Eldridge’s footsteps by providing us with local news and information about our communities, helping us understand today’s important issues. I know Eldridge would be very proud.