When KWCH channel 12 news received the nomination from Sterling townspeople to feature Sterling in their “One of a Kind” contest, they responded with alacrity. Sterling boasts great community and fantastic stories, including being influential in the lives of a cancer survivor, the Miller High Life guy, and an up and coming country music singer. The town is also home to a host of faithful professors, teachers, businessmen and women, and families who give Sterling its reputation as an accepting community.

The contest rules were simple: submit your town’s nomination on Facebook, upload a picture, and get as many people as possible to comment on it. The KWCH crew would then decide which towns they wanted to visit, based partly on the story to be found there and partly on the amount of feedback that the town’s picture received. The people of Sterling offered so many unique things about the town that KWCH had to check it out.

When they came, KWCH featured Susan Brown, an elementary school teacher who moved to town to teach. She began teaching in August and was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer in October. She had no sick days and was faced with the reality of having to quit her job. But the community of teachers gathered around her and donated more than 80 days of sick leave – and they were willing to give more. The town of Sterling gave even more. Brown and her husband were building a house at that time, and the community pulled together for them. The lumber yard brought the lumber and the house was finished in one day.

The KWCH team also featured Nicolle Galyon and Windell Middlebrooks. Galyon is a rising country music star and Middlebrooks is best known for his work as the Miller High Life guy and a supporting role as Kirby in the Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life on Deck.” Middlebrooks went to Sterling College, where he received his training in the theatre department from Gordon Kling and Diane DeFranco-Kling.

KWCH has also featured Atwood, Coldwater, and Lucas.

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