What I’m about to say does not necessarily represent the views of the management of The Dispatch. Depending on the reaction it receives, it may not even reflect my own views. In the event of angry phone calls, my reaction may have evolved along the lines of “Gee, what was I thinking?”

I promise to get to the point soon, but first I want to offer some encouragement — some sweet to go with the bitter.

A good community newspaper is built on its relationship with its readers, which is often reflected by information found in the newspaper. While all of our news content is produced either by our staff or, to a lesser degree, by other news organizations, there is always quite a bit of useful information that comes directly from our readers — weddings, engagements, births, club news, business briefs, letters to the editor and calendar items, to name a few.

We welcome and encourage these contributions because they are important in informing and entertaining our readers and building relationships not only between The Dispatch and readers, but among members of the community.

Observant readers will note the evidence of this reader content throughout the paper, but always at the bottom of Page 1 each day through a couple of features. One is called “Local Folks,” which presents a photo of someone who lives in our community, along with a brief caption that shares some basic information about the person — where he or she lives, occupation, family, interests, hobbies, etc.

The other is artwork submitted by children which accompanies the day’s weather forecast in the bottom left-hand corner.

It is here that I arrive at the salient point and, sadly, it is not a pleasant one to make.

In recent months, it should be obvious to everyone that the overall quality of this weather artwork has declined noticeably. Let’s not shy away from this painful truth.

Please hear me out. I am not talking about the weather art YOUR child or grandchild has submitted, which is exquisite. In fact, it is so exceptional that, truth be told, it warrants far more prominent display — perhaps spread across six columns in the middle of Page 1. Many is the time that I have openly wept at the beauty portrayed in your child’s artwork. The weather art in today’s edition, for example, is particularly moving.

No, I’m talking about the artwork other people’s kids have turned in, the sort of art that appears to have no regard for scale — (the flower is bigger than the house) — or hues and color combinations (the weather portrayed suggests an impending Apocalypse even when the forecast is sunny with a high of 75). I won’t even mention the lack of forced perspective because that seems an entirely futile point to make.

So what is it with kids today? Do they think they’re Salvador Dali? Have they suffered and sacrificed to earn that degree of artistic freedom? I think not!

I suspect something far less ambitious at play here.

Even allowing for the fact that the artists are often first-graders for whom tying their shoelaces is an achievement not to go unnoticed, well…How shall I put this? I’m just not seeing much of an effort here. Let’s be real: This is the sort of work even a grandma wouldn’t put on her refrigerator.

In fairness, The Dispatch must assume some share of responsibility for this unfortunate trend through our enthusiasm in encouraging children to send in their weather artwork. Since there are no established standards of quality for this feature, we have relied entirely on the artist’s commitment to his/her craft. I am not timid is saying some of you have been a great disappointment to me in that regard.

Look, kids, a lot of you are just mailing it in. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.

I suspect some of you — not unlike say, Lee Roy Lollar — are under the impression that you can just hastily scratch out any random pointless thing, send it in and it will get into print. Please, do not abuse our good nature.

It’s time to step up your artistic game.

As for YOUR child prodigy, I encourage them to keep up the good work. Who knows? They my yet serve as an inspiration to the slackers.

Finally, as a reminder, we are looking for grandma’s refrigerator quality work here, kids.

Make her proud.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].