The Aiken Standard hits a milestone with today’s Sunday Best publication.
It’s the 100th person we have profiled in the section since Publisher Rhonda Overbey created Sunday Best in March 2019.
The goal of the section is simple – shine a spotlight on an Aiken resident who has gone above and beyond to make the community better – and do a lengthy profile on the man or woman. The name Sunday Best has a dual meaning: The subjects are asked to dress in their “Sunday best” attire, and Sunday is the day of the week it appears in print.
“What I found is philanthropy and events are very important to Aiken. We needed society pages in the Aiken Standard to tell the full story of what makes this community unique,” Overbey said of the subjects who have an impact in the philanthropic, nonprofit arena as well as in their professional careers. “We want to highlight individuals making a difference.”
Sunday Best started about six months before I arrived, but I was well familiar with it. Many newspapers have moved away from the Sunday magazine and feature-type articles, but I am a fan of that type of “long form” journalism. During my career, I have been known to turn in a lengthy feature or two.
What I wasn’t familiar with was the guidelines put in place for Sunday Best. The subjects are to be people who do good deeds as a volunteer and not, for example, a professional who is paid to run a nonprofit – and no politicians, at least ones not still in office.
There’s also been an emphasis to have great diversity in Sunday Best. Black and white. Women and men. Most of our subjects have skewed toward the “experienced” side of life, but we’ve had a few young ones too.
News Editor Holly Kemp has been tasked with assigning the profiles, and she works with the reporting staff to pick the stories and makes sure they are completed week after week.
“We’ve been able to dedicate some space to sharing the life stories of some of Aiken’s special, everyday residents,” Kemp said. “They’ve all been good people who go above and beyond for their community. It’s really neat to find out things about people you never knew.”
Sunday Best is much more than just one profile. It also contains a feature story on a local nonprofit or community group that is also doing important work. For the first year of Sunday Best, this feature was usually tied to an upcoming event. But with the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of events have been canceled or postponed. However, the need to serve the community still exists.
“We still highlight groups and how they have found ways to adapt and serve the community during the pandemic,” Kemp said.
Another thing the pandemic disrupted was Aiken’s vibrant social scene. Pictures of people at events, often in their “Sunday best,” were a staple of the section. That has cooled off, but we are eager for those events to return so we can include them in Sunday Best.
It’s only fitting that Larry Wood has written this week’s profile. He wrote about Sandra Field, a retired USC Aiken music professor who has been instrumental in the Joye in Aiken music festival, for the first Sunday Best. By my count, Wood has done more than 25% of our Sunday Best profiles.
He retired in June but, as someone who grew up in Aiken and worked here for much of his professional career, we have enlisted him to write one per month. He’s particularly adept at profiling those with a musical background, like this week’s subject, Adam DePriest.
We are always on the lookout for worthy subjects for Sunday Best, so if you have an idea give me a call or send me an email.
The first 100 have gone by in the blink of an eye. Here’s to the next 100 – and beyond.
Thanks for reading.
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January 31, 2021 at 10:00AM
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