Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2019)
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon ... Kema The people behind The Nugget... Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Visitors to The Nugget office in Sisters will be greeted by a new face. Kema Clark has taken on the role of front-office and classified- advertising manager for the newspaper. Lisa May, who previously held that posi- tion, is shifting her focus to graphic design and paper lay- out, in partnership with Jess Draper. Clark has a lifelong love for the written word, which has led her down some inter- esting career paths. She was an award-winning writer and photographer for Jones County News in Georgia, and from 2006 to 2016 she was the owner and operator of a new-and-used bookstore in downtown Gray, Georgia. She was drawn to The Nugget as a kind of <dream job,= she said. <The Nugget Newspaper is very similar to the Jones County News, which is where I worked in Georgia,= she said. <I love the way The Nugget is set up 4 so com- munity-driven& I really like the community focus that The Nugget has.= Bookselling and newspa- per work are second-career highlights for Clark. Most of her career was spent with PHOTO BY JIM CLARK Kema Clark in her favorite place — on a lake in a kayak. Ford Motor Company. Her first position there was in Macon, Georgia, as a credit analyst. <Our main focus was to help people get over rough patches in their life,= she said. Wanting to move up in the company, Clark took assign- ments that took her from San Bernardino, California, to Oklahoma and Nebraska, from Tennessee to Ford9s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. That kind of peripatetic life isn9t for everybody, but Clark9s family thrived on new homes and new adventures. <We loved it,= she said. Clark9s love for reading led her into her next career after her retirement from Ford Motor Co. in 2006. <I like being in a room with lots of books,= she said. <When I retired from Ford Motor Co., I had about 9,000 books of my own.= That collection became the seed for the bookstore operation. After she folded that enterprise up, she worked for two years to promote lit- eracy among Jones County kids, donating 3,000 books and assisting with writing a grant to create a bookmobile. Her own reading since Clark PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS Kema Clark has come on board as the front-office manager for The Nugget Newspaper. childhood had created a deep love for the American West. <The West has always been my favorite thing,= she said. When her son and daugh- ter-in-law, who were living in Portland, decamped for Bend, Kema decided to head west to join them. She finds the lifestyle of Central Oregon congenial. <My favorite thing is kay- aking,= she said <I love kaya- king here.= She likes to kayak on the region9s lakes, in an environ- ment that can take the breath away. <The last time we went out, there was this huge eagle in a tree,= she said. Clark lives in Bend, but likes the feeling she gets when she comes to work in Sisters. <It brings you peace and quiet and joy just being here,= she said. <When I saw the ad in The Nugget, I thought, 8Oh, my gosh, this is my per- fect job.9= Her new colleagues think she9s a perfect fit for that job. <It9s been fun introduc- ing Kema to the job respon- sibilities and to the people of Sisters,= said Lisa May. <This position involves interfacing with so many people, and Kema is a great fit for that.= THANK YOU to all our readers who have let us know how much they enjoy reading The Nugget. We are honored by your appreciation and support! The Nugget You, too, can help The Nugget continue its journalistic mission... Readers like you can join our loyal advertisers in bringing The Nugget to Sisters — for free — every week! Thank you for supporting us! Make a fi nancial contribution to keep professional community journalism thriving in Sisters... o $50/year Supporting Subscription o $100/year Sustaining Subscription o $________ Other Contribution Three easy ways to support community journalism: • Complete the form below and mail today • Call 541-549-9941 and pay by credit card • Go to NuggetNews.com to contribute online Name __________________________________________________________________ Address _________________ City ______________ State ____ Zip _________ Visit NuggetNews.com, stop by the offi ce at 442 E. Main Ave. (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri), call us at 541-549-9941, or drop a check in the mail. Phone ______________ Email ___________________________________________ o Check enclosed o Please charge my credit card Visa/MasterCard __________________________ Exp. __ /__ Security Code ___ Mail to: The Nugget, PO Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759 PHOTO BY GARY MILLER 19