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In every corner of Minnesota, there are good stories waiting to be told of places that make our state great and people who in Walt Whitman’s words “contribute a verse” each day. That's the theme of our series “Wander & Wonder: Exploring Minnesota’s unexpected places.”
Kayla Kroll never planned to be a newspaper publisher. But after 15 years of working at the Warren Sheaf, owners Eric and Nancy Mattson suggested she buy the paper.
The Mattson family had owned the Sheaf since 1886. Eric was the fourth generation to run the paper. He published it for 40 years with his wife, Nancy. But with her health declining, the couple wanted to retire and no one else in the family was inclined to take over.
“It was a very difficult decision,” Eric said of ending the Mattson legacy. “But in the long run it works out. The town gets to keep its weekly newspaper and Kayla gets a chance to shine.”
“It wasn't really like a hesitant feel,” Kroll recalled. “It was like, all in or not. So I'm like, ‘OK, we're doing it.’”
Kroll, 43, signed the deal last October and recruited Mallory Craik, who had photography and writing skills and the connections that come with nearly four decades of living in a small town.
They are the newspaper staff now, along with a part-time sports writer and occasional help from family members. When they’re together, they finish each other's sentences and lob jokes in passing.
“The day she bought it, it was the day I started,” said Craik, who doesn’t really have a job title.
“We're really a partnership,” said Kroll. “We work really well together.”
‘We have to keep it going’
There's a lot of history at the Warren Sheaf building, dating back to 1904. A sign high on the wall declares this is “Sheafland.”
The paper was printed for decades in the building’s unfinished dusty basement with low ceilings and stone walls.
The Linotype machines are gone, but you can almost smell the hot lead and ink.
There are still printing plates used in papers dating to the early 1900s on shelves. A couple forgotten bundles of old papers gather dust.
But Kroll's favorite place is the archive where more than 120 years of papers are bound into books. She loves paging through the history.
Both women feel the weight of the decades of journalism written here.
"I sometimes don't even want to think about it,” said Craik. “Because it feels heavy. It's like, we have to keep it going.”
"People remind me every day about all the history that goes with it," added Kroll.
Recent history hasn’t been kind to small-town newspapers. Rising costs, falling readership and the shift to online news have led to waves of closures the past 25 years.
The number of print-first newspapers in Minnesota fell from 344 to 254 from 2000 to 2021, a 26 percent drop, while the number of newspaper employees plummeted 70 percent, from 9,499 to 2,844, according to a report by the nonprofit Center for Rural Policy and Development, citing state data.
The report also struck a mildly hopeful note, noting that while many small-town papers have been forced to close or merge, “the demand and need are there, and new papers are still starting up.”
Kroll is making changes. There’s a new website with about 160 digital subscribers, but most people want to hold the paper in their hands.
“If they don’t get the newspaper they will let you know they did not get it,” said Kroll. “And they have been getting it for over 50 years and they just want it.”
There are stories of people waiting by the mailbox on the day the Sheaf is delivered. A few subscribers can’t wait and pick up their paper at the office. Kroll said they’ve lost mail subscribers because it takes too long for the U.S. Postal Service to reach faraway readers. She’s hopeful more of those readers will switch to the online paper.
With about 1,500 subscribers and many committed local advertisers, she thinks the paper is in a good position to survive.
They are trying to expand printing and office supply sales to bolster the bottom line.
They are also exploring adding coverage of surrounding towns in an effort to attract new readers. And they’re thinking about ways to attract younger readers to a subscription base that’s mostly 50 and older.
‘You feel like, OK, this matters’
Recent front page stories covered Warren City Council news and the winners of the Crazy Days Kiddie Parade with a big photo spread. Sports news and photos get lots of space.
Kroll, though, keeps politics out of her paper.
"Everybody has their own opinion and nobody wants to read it,” she said. “We get a lot of letters to the editor about politics but we don’t publish them.”
Craik covers council and school board meetings but “I just write what happened,” she said. “Everybody else can read it and make their own decision on what they think,” she added. “That's not our job."
There's an echo of the first mission statement of this paper 144 years ago which said the paper aimed to "look not to the right or left" with the purpose of "doing our best for the whole with malice toward none."
“All the credit in the world goes to her for really sinking her teeth in and doing a very fine job of operating the Sheaf,” said Mattson, talking about Kroll's leadership. “We’re proud of her.”
Craik sees the Sheaf as providing a “common connection” despite political or religious differences because “everybody gets the Sheaf.”
Work-life balance can be a challenge with a staff of two. Kroll is coaching high school volleyball this year, so she’s relying on Craik to handle the business when she’s away.
Both are moms, so schedules need to be flexible.
“We respect that about each other,” said Craik, 39. “So if her son has a game or my boys have something, we can help each other out and we're not missing out on being moms either.”
In the first year of running the paper, Kroll and Craik have been energized by the engagement with readers.
“I'm always carrying a piece of paper and a pen with me,” said Kroll, “Because they're like, ‘You should really do this.’ ‘OK, I'll write that down.’”
Craik often overhears conversations where people talk about “I read it in the Sheaf.”
“I love it when I hear that,” she said.
“It makes you feel like, OK, this matters."
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