This week and last, we are starting a few new features in the Tribune based off of feedback we received at our most recent reader advisory forum.

The first appeared in last Friday’s edition and included responses from eight people about what their  favorite part was at the Freeborn County Fair. We didn’t know who we were going to talk to ahead of time when we went out that day to the fair and found eight people who would be willing to answer our question.

We call this our man on the street segment — but of course it can include both men and women. It’s a spontaneous thing and is random in selection.

We started this off with a pretty light-hearted topic, but in the future, we would like to get out and talk to people about local current events issues and get more opinions from community members in the newspaper.

I hope you will look for our reporters out and about in the coming weeks for this segment, and we encourage you to talk with them and let your voices be heard.

The second feature should be coming out one day this week and is a feature that includes children’s opinions. One of our reporters will go into a classroom at a day care facility or an elementary school and ask each of the students the same question. The reporter will take photos of the students individually, and each reponse will be recorded and printed with the corresponding photo. This is meant to be something fun for both the children who get to participate and the readers, and it is always sure to give you a smile when you hear some things children say. It reminds me of that old show “Kids Say the Darndest Things.”

For this first one, we talked with a classroom of 4- and 5-year-olds at The Children’s Center about what their favorite thing is about summer. We have done these before in the past, but hope to make these a bi-weekly occurrence. 

In addition to these features, we are looking to add a high school columnist, and we are considering starting a new column similar to what prints in the Albert Lea magazine called “Why I Love Albert Lea.”

If you know someone who loves the community and who would be a good fit for this column, please reach out to me at sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com or 507-379-3433.

If you have any other ideas for stories, please reach out as well. We’re always looking for fresh, new ideas.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.