Wagner is living his childhood dream at the Reporter

COLUMBIANA — When Neal Wagner was a seven-year-old in Helena running bases or sprinting up and down the soccer field, he told everyone he knew he wanted to write for the Shelby County Reporter.

“I grew up reading the paper,” Wagner said. “My parents subscribed for years and the Reporter was my favorite because it actually wrote things about Helena.”

Now, 18 years later, Wagner has put down his baseball bat and cleats in favor of a pen, camera and even an airplane steering wheel.

As the city editor of the Shelby County (Ala.) Reporter, Neal has gotten to experience exciting activities he never would’ve thought possible.

“I got to fly a plane three times, one of which was an open air World War II plane,” Wagner said.

As a staff reporter, he got to hear the pounding of helmets at Friday night games, laugh until he cried at Montevallo’s college night and feel the intensity of a fire-fighter training class, and those were just all in a day’s work.

Now, as city editor, Wagner gets to add covering Alabaster and Pelham to his repertoire of activities. When he’s not laying out pages or creating daily e-mails, Wagner enjoys working on cars, cheering for the Auburn Tigers and the New Orleans Saints and shooting guns at the gun range.

As for his future at the Shelby County Reporter, Wagner said, “I want to work here for the rest of my life.”