Your Story Turns Into More

After doing one of my first Your Story packages about a deaf sign language teacher named Katy Mulryan She invited me along to follow her journey in getting a cochlear implant, which allows her to hear.We followed her for six months and at the end of December, we ran this four page – AD FREE! – special section. To see the rest of the images, go to my gallery on sportsshooter.com

Your Story — Shawnita Cosby

Shawnita Cosby fixes her daughter Shaniyah's hair before the two head out to Cosby's Great-Grandmother Frieda's house on Tuesday. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Shawnita Cosby spent the majority of her formative years in Wilmington, Del., but she would visit her great-grandmother Frieda Cosby in Hanover each summer. It was during those vacations that she developed what she calls her favorite childhood memories.

"This was home in the summers," Cosby said. "I remember sitting out on her (great-grandmother's) porch and listening to the rain falling on her roof," Cosby said. "Great-grandma Frieda would always know if rain was coming, even if there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She could smell it."

Now that Cosby has a daughter of her own, 5-year-old Shaniyah, she said she wanted to give her a chance to know the woman and the midwestern way of life that influenced her so much in life.

Shaniyah was born in Delaware where Cosby and Shaniyah's father, William Barker, were living at the time.

The load of going to college, working full time and raising a baby in Wilmington became too much for Cosby, so she temporarily gave up on schooling to spend more time with Shaniyah. "My dream has been to be a nurse," Cosby said. "But being a parent is my first priority."

Cosby moved to Hanover about one year ago to help care for her great-grandmother and to give her daughter a chance to live around the matriarch of the family.

Cosby said the connection the two - who have a span of five generations between them - have made has been a blessing to see.

Cosby said that during Thanksgiving of 2005, she looked into the kitchen and saw Shaniyah standing on a chair and working beside her great-great-grandmother and asking lots of questions as she prepared the holiday dinner - something Cosby could remember doing when she was a child. "It was neat to see that."

Frieda Cosby said she was glad to have Shawnita and Shaniyah living in the area. "You can never have too much family around. And it is important to pass lessons on to the new generations."

Cosby is still influenced by her great-grandmother to this day, and she will soon heed her advice and go back to school. Cosby plans to return to school next year to finish her registered nursing degree.

Also, she has been working as a certified nursing assistant at the Waters of Clifty Falls nursing home for about a year.

"With my family by my side, I'll be able to do anything," Cosby said. (Story - ©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Cosby zips up her daughter's coat while her little girl plays outside their Hanover apartment on Monday. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Cosby and her daughter Shaniyah listen to Cosby's Great-Grandmother Frieda Cosby as she tells them a story at her home on Tuesday. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Turret Work

The sun shines down on Greg Liter of Combs Construction Company as he works to install a new standing seam metal roof on a second story turret at 102 West Third Street on Wednesday, December 27. The unusually warm temperatures that have made it easier on outdoor laborers is forecasted to continue through the week. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Law Man No More

After 20 years in office, Carroll County Sheriff Charlie Maiden will step out from behind his badge and reenter civilian life. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Gifts for the Elderly

Hickory Creek resident Mary Bates studies a nutcracker figurine as she unpacks a gift box given to her by third grader Destiny Grubbs and fourth grader Fiona Eden at the nursing home on Thursday, December 14. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Wind Shield

Southwestern Junior High School sixth-grader T.J. Austin, 12, uses his history project on medieval times to block the wind from hitting his neck as he walks home with his brother Scott, 9, on Monday, December 18. T.J. worked on the project with classmates for Marsha Daugherty's history class. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Swearing Ins

Father Daughter Moment: With his wife Julie and daughters Anna and Emily standing at his side, District Judge Thomas Funk, left, is sworn in by Circuit Judge Stephen Bates at the official swearing in ceremony at the courthouse on Thursday, December 14. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Burying the Hatchet: Circuit Court Judge Ted Todd is sworn in on Friday, December 29, by his one-time campaign rival, outgoing Chief Deputy Prosecutor Steve Tessmer. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)
Father Daughter Moment II: Jefferson County Clerk of Circuit Courts Kim Smith is sworn in on Friday, December 29, by her father, Hanover Township Trustee Will Sims. Smith then switched roles and swore her father into office. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Geography Bee and Spell Bowl

Fifth grader Vanesa Arteaga reacts after missing a question and being eliminated in a late round of the National Geography Bee at Cartmell Elementary on Friday, December 15. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

While these were two very different competitions as far as knowledge bases, the visuals were fairly similar, so here are my favorite shots from the two events.

Cartmell Elementary fifth grader James Jeffery ponders a question in the school's National Geography Bee on Friday, December 15. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Fifth grader David Waldon grimaces after discovering he misspelled the word archeologist in the Spell Bowl at E. O. Muncie Elementary School on Tuesday, December 5. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Fourth grader Dylan Bliz gives the "thumbs-up" sign to teammates and fans in the audience as he clinches the victory, with a final score of 52 for Lydia Middleton Elementary at the Spell Bowl at E. O. Muncie Elementary School on Tuesday, December 5. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Walking the Line

The Michigan Road hill was closed for a portion of the morning and afternoon on Monday as Mike Pickett, of the North Vernon based J.M. Striping Company repainted the double yellow centerline and the white lines on the edge of the road. Madison Street Department Superintendent Mark Warner said the company has been contracted to repaint the stripes along Michigan Road, Demaree Drive, the hilltop portion of Cragmont Street, Broadway Street and Milton Street. Warner said the remaining street painting would not necessitate road closures. He said it was necessary to close Michigan Road while the hill was being painted due to the increased risk of accidents associated with the curves and steep grade of the road. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Docent Appreciation

Sarah Vest (right) and Mickie Cox converse during the Historic Madison, Inc., annual Docent Recognition Reception in the Grogan Hall at St. Michael the Archangel Church on Tuesday, December 5. Later in the program, Vest was honored for more than 2,000 accumulated volunteer hours that she has logged as a docent with HMI in the last four decades. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

One of my town’s biggest draws is the enormous amount of work that is poured into preserving and showcasing our historic district.
One of the reasons that this works is because of the many volunteers that give of themselves to keep the operations moving.
The Historic Madison Inc., docent recognition luncheon is significant for that reason.

This is, however, one of those assignments that I hear shooters turning their noses up at all the time.

But, even at these fairly pedestrian events, there are moments to be found and stories to be told. The fact is; I have no interest in covering wars, politics on the national stage or any of the other things that most photojournalists love to cover.

I am a community journalist. Our four counties that we cover are where my heart is and where I am glad to be. When I worked here before, I was not sure of that, I was looking for something that I thought I should want (what I saw other people in the business striving for).

But this is where I belong.

Things here are not as grandiose and thrilling as covering the fall of the Berlin Wall or the ebb and flow of control in Afghanistan, but it’s still important. It still holds significance to the readers in my towns.

I’m rambling.
To make it short, I am thankful to have figured out my place.

Dorothy Jones and Bill Ruesink share a laugh at the beginning of the Historic Madison, Inc., annual Docent Recognition Reception in the Grogan Hall at St. Michael the Archangel Church on Tuesday, December 5. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Inmates Find Freedom In Praise

Members of the Madison Correctional Facility Women's Choir sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" with the members of St. Stephens African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hanover on Sunday, December 3. The troupe of incarcerated singers were invited to join in praise and worship at St. Stephens where Rev. Elaine Walters told them to feel at home and added, "This is the church where imperfect people are following a perfect God to perfection." (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

This was a fun and interesting assignment. Like a summer school story that we did earlier in the year I was told not to shoot faces of the subjects because there were not releases for that. I like to have a couple of obstacles sometimes because it makes me go against my typical coverage.
It makes me throw out my first ideas that I was thinking of on my way to the assignment and look for a fresh perspective.
Anyway, I had fun and I hope you like the shots.

Members of the Madison Correctional Facility Women's Choir wear red robes over their tan uniforms during their visit to St. Stephens African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hanover on Sunday, December 3. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Members of the Madison Correctional Facility Women's Choir sing "O Come Let Us Adore Him" from the hymnbook at St. Stephens African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hanover on Sunday, December 3. In addition to listening to the sermon and singing with the regular church members, the choir also performed several songs of praise and one member gave testimony about her life and how God is changing her. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)


Members of the Madison Correctional Facility Women's Choir listen to Rev. Elaine Walters during a service at St. Stephens African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hanover on Sunday, December 3. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

My Favorites of 2006

If you get a chance please take a look and post some comments (including critiques) about my Best of 2006 page.