Last week, I started my column by saying inspiration comes at any time. Unlike last week’s column, the inspiration for this week’s column didn’t hit me first thing Wednesday morning.

Amanda Ellington, circulation director for The Covington News, came back to my office Tuesday afternoon to tell me the sweetest story.

See, we love our subscribers. It is because of them we are able to do what we do for the community. Without the constant support of our readers, we wouldn’t exist.

Tuesday afternoon, a subscriber came into The Covington News office to pay his annual bill. This subscriber shared his story with Amanda. For 60 years he has regularly paid his bill to The Covington News. That’s a commitment and we appreciate the support.

I did not get a chance to talk to this subscriber, but I would personally like to express my gratitude.

Thank you, H. Donald Briscoe. It is because of readers like you that I am here. It is because of the support you have for your community newspaper that we are able to do what we do each week.

One thing we at The News take pride in is the fact that we’ve been telling the story of your life since 1865. We’re so proud of it that it is slapped on the front page of our newspaper each week. But it is little reminders like Mr. Briscoe that keep us going each week.

In case you were wondering, the community newspaper you know and love looked a lot different 60 years ago. It was black and white, the pages were a little wider, there was a different logo sprawled across the front page and the design style was definitely a lot different, among other things.

Mr. Briscoe has been with us through a lot of changes and we appreciate the support from readers like him.

Jackie Gutknecht is the managing editor of The Covington News. She can be reached at jgutknecht@covnews.com or 770-728-14009. Twitter: @jackieg1991