Pun Fun Is Tribute To Nate Metschke And Promotes Local Youth

Sound the trumpet, we’re announcing another change to the ACN, and we’re not the only ones excited about it. Madison and Benson Metschke are also excited to introduce our new addition.

On the Opinion page of the ACN newspaper is Pun Fun, and it not only pays tribute to their dad, Nate, but it also is designed to involve youth in our publication.

I’ve wanted to include an editorial cartoon for some time, but I’ve been hesitant because they could be considered too conservative, too liberal or just plain too political. Instead, I wanted something that would be funny for everyone and something people looked forward to each week.

Before we purchased this newspaper, we started printing the ACN Week In Review. The first couple of weeks included a joke of the week, courtesy of my buddy, Nate Metschke. He loved that we were starting the Week In Review and insisted we include a joke. When we bought the newspaper, Nate told me to somehow include something funny, but we never figured out how.

Margie Mortensen and I were talking last week about my desire — and hesitance — in adding an editorial cartoon. She suggested Pun Fun, and from there, the ideas started flowing. We decided to print a weekly pun and dedicate the new section to Nate. Margie drew the fantastic tribute image of Nate.

We know this project won’t be easy to make happen every week, so we are recruiting local youth to draw a cartoon to accompany the weekly pun. We plan to enlist the help of the six schools in Antelope County — and adult artists — to provide a drawing or sometimes multiple drawings to be included with the pun.

The first two drawings are very special to us because they come from Madison and Benson Metschke. This week Benson submitted one having to do with football since Sunday is the Super Bowl, and his dad was crazy about the NFL. You’ll notice “Benson” on the jersey. That’s because Nate claimed he and Darcy named their son after Bengals running back Cedric Benson. Nate gave Benson a jersey when he was around age 2.

Next week is close to Valentine’s Day, so Madison has a special drawing planned that not only includes a Valentine message, but incorporates music since Nate was the Neligh-Oakdale band teacher. We already have the drawing, and you’ll love it.

Both kids picked out their own puns and matched their drawing to the joke. Honestly, I can’t imagine a better way to kick off this new feature, and I can almost hear Nate’s laugh as he reads both puns. He’d be proud his children are carrying on his legacy.

These drawings will only be available in our print edition. They are also to promote literacy and reading. Besides, cutting them out of the newspaper will be much better for the scrapbook anyway. You can subscribe here for $37 and even pay online. That's just 71 cents per week. 

The ACN staff is excited to open Pun Fun up to other youth — and adults — as well. If you know someone who would like to draw a picture, let us know. We plan to contact the schools and hope this turns into a community collaboration.

If you are a teacher, we’d like to have no more than three drawings per pun. For example, with a class of 15 students, pick out five puns and separate your class into groups of three. We’ll publish all three drawings per pun.

Our next available Pun Fun date is February 13 with lots of open dates after that. Send us an email at [email protected] or call 402-887-4000 for your dates. The pun is up to you, and it must be family friendly.

​Most of all, have fun with it. I know Nate would.