In a divided nation, our area proves ‘We’re Better Together’

Pick up a newspaper, turn on the TV or radio or scroll through your social media accounts and it’s as plain as the nose on your face.

We have become a divided society.

It’s now more frequent for an “Us vs. Them” mentality instead of an “Us” solution. Instead of sitting down and solving our problems together, it’s easier to be loud, dominate with a point of view and not listen to anyone but others who are like-minded.

With this year’s Progress edition, the Daily American Republic decided to show how this area is the exception. We’ve titled this year’s edition, “We’re Better Together.”

For weeks we talked about how we could make this year’s Progress a beacon for highlighting the good in our community. We wanted to prove that our community and area are the exception and not what has become the national norm.

“We’re Better Together.”

This year’s magazine will be inside Saturday’s newspaper. I encourage you to look for it and read all the wonderful stories by our talented reporters.

We divided the magazine into four sections — Community, Faith, History and Health. All the topics showcase the good in our community.

This year we’re trying a different approach. We are offering some pre-Progress stories in the DAR to build excitement for Saturday’s magazine. Those stories begin in today’s DAR.

Some of the stories in the magazine:

• Community — Brodie Gargac: One little boy’s big legacy; Stream Team: Ripley County residents link arms to clean waterways.

• Faith — Expanding Group finds faith on the field; Butler County home to General Baptist World headquarters; Oldest Butler County church opens new doors.

• History — Brick Streets: PB’s visual link to the past; Merger of communities creates Twin Rivers Royals; Cemeteries can offer keys to area history.

• Health — Local writer faces down diabetes, and wins; WIC offers nutrition, education to families.

Our Progress edition also offers area businesses the opportunity to showcase their business by being a part of this special project. It’s a full-color, glossy-style magazine and the ads pop off the page.

When you couple the ads with the stories, it’s the type of product that has a huge shelf life and will be talked about for days and weeks. That’s a win-win for the DAR and all the businesses that are highlighted.

Progress will also be available online starting Saturday.

We hope you enjoy our creation and agree, “We’re Better Together.”

Thank you for reading the DAR.

Chris is publisher of the Daily American Republic and can be reached at cpruett@darnews.com .