Schnase joins Valley Journal team
Longtime resident brings concern for youth, commitment to small business to county weekly
Linda Sappington
John Schnase joins the staff of the Valley Journal where he’ll help small businesses grow through local advertising campaigns.
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The staff of the Valley Journal welcome John Schnase to their award-winning team.
Much has changed in the publishing world since Schnase helped his uncle work with lead type on an eight-page letterpress. Schnase, then a fresh 1968 graduate of Charlo High, spent a year in New Hampshire where his uncle was publisher of two newspapers that covered the county and state.
“I thought it was a vital function for people to have a weekly paper, with all the recognition and information,” he said. “I got my affinity for weeklies there.”
Merriam-Webster defines typesetting as “the process or job of arranging type for printing.” Nowadays, it’s considered typing written text into the computer. But the word was formed from workers meticulously “setting” each leaded letter, or “type,” into rows in metal page frames that once covered in ink, would print a newspaper page.
“If you dropped a page, it got deadly quiet. Nobody said a word. They had to rebuild the page because it fell into a million pieces,” Schnase said. His job included “flying the press,” which meant gathering the pages as they flew off the end, inserting inside sections by hand and then running them through the addressograph machine.
While staying on the East Coast, Schnase’s uncle encouraged him to attend college, which he did for one year before returning home to earn a degree in secondary education with a teaching major in art from the University of Montana.
“My high school counselor told me I’d never get anything higher than a D in college,” he said with a laugh.
During a small stint guiding with Bud Cheff in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Schnase fell in love with Barb. His uncle also asked Schnase to return to New Hampshire to be the advertising director at one of the newspapers. Reluctantly, Schnase took a bus across the country to accept the position. That lasted a mere four months. Schnase bought a Corvair and in the midst of a winter blizzard, hopped into his rear-engine classic and drove nearly non-stop back to Montana — and Barb.
“I tried to return (to New Hampshire), but I couldn’t take it. She was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said. They married in 1973 and today they share two grown sons, a daughter-iin-law and a brand-new grandson, Benjamin.
After making it safely home through the snowstorm, Schnase signed on as editor of the Ronan Pioneer, then owned by author and local historian Paul Fugleberg. Schnase wrote stories, shot photos, processed the film, sold ads, and even delivered the papers to the post office to be mailed.
“Paul is probably one of the most decent people I have ever worked for, a really awesome guy,” Schnase said.
Although he was naturally drawn to the newspaper business and stayed on at the Pioneer a year, Schnase decided to utilize his degree. He packed up his family and moved to Hardin to teach art to high school students. That stuck for three years, but once again his heart brought him back to publishing, and he took a job as advertising manager at the Hardin Herald. Schnase also held various positions in Hardin for the county, city and the school district throughout his 10 years in Eastern Montana.
When Schnase returned to Ronan, he became general manager/advertising manager at the Ronan Pioneer, now working for owners Carmen and Todd Mowbray. After the paper sold to Lee Enterprises, Schnase put his talent to work elsewhere, including the Lower Flathead Valley Community Foundation.
Then in 2004, the Boys and Girls Club hired Schnase as their executive director. He spent the next nine years securing funding to keep the after-school program up and running. He was greeted with hugs from the children he served, and although he didn’t run the day-to-day programs, Schnase always had an open door. Under his guidance, the club grew from about 35 kids to 70. Schnase was also instrumental in securing a site-based club in Polson.
Now Schnase has again come home to his love of community news, and as a Valley Journal sales associate, looks forward to reuniting with community businesses he served at the Pioneer.
And once again, there’s been big changes.
“Now we e-mail and text, rather than spending so much time face to face,” he said. “But I think face to face is so much better.”
Schnase said he’s sees less and less personal communication skills. Communicating face to face is something he insisted on at the Boys and Girls Club.
“We tried to limit the amount of time on the computer so the kids would socialize,” he said, asking children not to bring cell phones or iPods to the club.
In a roundabout way, Schnase feels he’s still helping the children as he embarks on his next adventure with the Valley Journal.
“Small business is so important, and this particular link helps people develop commerce and build community, which provides jobs so that families can be families.”
Schnase is already out and about seeing clients as he helps small businesses grow through newspaper advertising.
“His knowledge of the area and past experience, plus his connections and involvement in community will be really valuable for us,” said Boone Goddard, advertising director and co-owner of the Valley Journal with Summer Goddard. “We’re really excited to have John join our team. Anyone who knows John and his commitment to this community will understand why we’re proud to say ‘welcome aboard.’ John’s experience, input and involvement in our organization will be invaluable.”
