Until about a year and a half ago, this old press and an equally ancient linotype machine churned out copies of a weekly newspaper here.

In a town you probably never heard of.

The Claysville Recorder went out each week to some 1200 citizens in remote hamlets deep in southwestern Pennsylvania.

But the longtime owner, unable to get newsprint, decided to fold the paper for good.

Another newspaper man heard about the recorder's demise.

I always wanted to own a community newspaper.

And, this present seemed like the opportunity.

It came along.

Although I didn't think it would ever be a success financially.

His name?

Gene Shaw.

His experience?

Son and grandson of newspaperman.

40 years putting out small sheets.

He had never owned a community paper.

But now Gene Shaw decided it might be fun to run a country newspaper of his own.

The response was, was tremendous.

People met me on the street and almost with, tears in their eyes when they found the first piece of paper, to put their arms around me and said how glad they were to get the Claysville Recorder back in, in print.

And the advertisers, the businessmen in the town supported it.

And to no end.

It it's been, overwhelming that, the way that responded to the to the paper.

Shaw in his first year as editor and publisher, expanded the recorder coverage area to include a 200 square mile region.

He rechristened the weekly the Claysville McGuffey Recorder McGuffey is the name of the famous 19th century author of the McGuffey readers.

William Holmes McGuffey, who grew up in the county, might have been delighted that so many people here took to reading the new Recorder.

Well, Mr.

Businessman Association, what do you what do you think we ought to name it?

Well, I think we should take out McGuffey businessmen.

We should call them McGuffey area.

The people of McGuffey area.

What?

We've had too much friction in the past.

Every time we get something started, we get friction between the communities that we don't.

When I. When I first came into town, I stopped to pet Fluff over there, and she crawl up over my shoulder and around my neck and down the other side.

And I knew that I was in a friendly town because Fluff would give me a greeting.

Hi.

Hi, Mrs.

Patterson.

How are you?

As a newcomer to the Claysville area, Shaw plunged gingerly into the affairs of the region.

His paper doesn't print editorials.

Seldom covers controversial stories.

Instead pushes for such things as a new doctor's office in nearby West Alexander.

The only doctor in this village, died, leaving the town without a physician.

So the recorder sparked a fundraising drive to equip a new office for two part time doctors.

More than $5,000 was raised.

Women volunteers donated their time to refurbish the office.

How did you raise it, the money?

We raised the most over just by people to the Claysville paper.

When we first met, we had $2,000 and then the Claysville paper recorder interviews and, they said they would help out.

And so they advertised.

And right away we began go get money.

Two days later, I got a check for $100, one for $25.

And the money began to come in that way.

And I would buy solicitation door to door and also a ball game.

Like most community papers, the recorder is big on names of local people.

Sometimes it seems relentless as a telephone book in printing those names.

When a recorder inspired dinner was held recently to organize a business mens group, the paper later printed the pictures of 97 persons who attended.

Although Shaw has a string of women correspondents in nearby towns, he gathers much of the news himself.

He knows who's making news, recorder style.

People like 103 year old Mrs.

Margaret Kane.

Yeah.

Can I can I have a picture of you on your 103rd birthday?

Can I take your picture?

I don't, yeah, I think so.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure.

How about that?

Yeah.

If you're just fine there.

You just... Okay.

All right.

Look this way.

Oh, that's wonderful.

Okay.

Thank you.

Shaw has been putting off the paper from modern offset facilities at his farm office.

But soon he'll move the entire operation to an office in Claysville.

What started out as a hobby has become a more than full time job.

He never expected subscriptions to nearly double in his first year.

He now publishes more than 2000 copies a week.

Although Newspapering has been in his family since his father and grandfather's day, Shaw has had to draw on all his resources to make the reporter work.

My real beginning in the newspaper business, I believe, goes back to the old Tyler County Journal, where where I used to spend the summers, and I'd go up to the newspaper plant, and I can remember the first day that I smelt printer's ink and and newsprint.

And really, I haven't gotten it out of my blood since then.

In a day when the word media is inevitably coupled with the word mass, it may be reassuring to know that Gene Shaw and his Claysville McGuffey Recorder, are alive and well here in southwestern Pennsylvania.

It might be reassuring too to know that Gene Shaw would like to see some change come to the Claysville area, and that he's well aware that a newspaper cannot bring change overnight.

He recalls his newspaperman father.

He was a crusader.

He didn't pull any punches in his writing, and whether it was his friend or or the best businessman in town, and he deserved to be written up.

He wrote it up and said what he felt like.

What happened to be that, most of the businessmen in town got on his, list, and, consequently, they, got to the point where they weren't advertising with him anymore.

And of course the advertising is the backbone of a newspaper.

And, so he was on his last leg and down to putting up the last with the paper and, the he had enough newsprint.

But he was a little short on ink.

When it went to the barrel.

He discovered a barrel was empty, and.

But he was determined to get this last paper out.

And, so he did have one friend in town, a remnant hardware.

And he went across the street and got a can of black paint, and he used the black paint instead of ink.

And, I know he never told me what the final outcome was or whether the his readers got ink all over their hands.

But, at least he did get that last piece of the paper out.