02/26/2024
I’m very excited about the release of tomorrow’s new edition as we kick off our “Community Showcase Series,” starting with the Village of Lakewood! In case you missed it, last week’s editorial explains it all…
————————
Feb. 19, 2024
My favorite President’s Day memory will probably always be the time when my four boys were in elementary school. I decided to rent out the Russell Roller Rink and invite all their friends to a “Birthday Party for George Washington.” I also thought it would be fun to light up a homemade birthday cake with 250-plus candles to represent GW’s actual age, had he been rolling with us that night. Long story short, massive flames ensued, and I nearly burned the old community gem down.
Ah yes, creative – albeit often crazy, elaborate, unique – ideas. Kind of my M.O.
I also share my dear Pastor Julie Anderson Challingsworth’s passion for organization, as she so beautifully describes in this week’s “Faith Matters”. (Shout out First Cov!) Mashing a rash of wild energy into a neat little box is how my brain seems to roll.
That said, I find myself overflowing with a multitude of new and (hopefully!) exciting ideas for this exceptional paper’s future, while at the same time methodically pulling my arms around one of the greatest organizational challenges I’ve ever faced. Analogists might call it: “Building the aircraft as we fly.”
Although, thanks to Stacey Hannon, I did inherit a wonderful “airplane” from the outset, and I’m staunchly committed to this newspaper’s cherished past. I received a welcome phone call from a loyal reader last week very concerned that we hadn’t run the puzzle page in my first edition on Feb. 12. It was a good reminder. Please rest assured all friends of Greater Jamestown: I will never again cheap-out on the $50 per week puzzle-publishing charge. (Actually, would any business like to sponsor this faithfully-followed, weekly tradition!?)
I remain incredibly grateful to Stacey for entrusting her newspaper to me, and am in awe by this strong foundation she created from scratch. Unlike most new business owners that must start from ground zero, I have essentially inherited a turn-key following and proud community asset.
I’m only slightly jealous of all my friends who are right now basking in the Florida sun on “winter break” instead of reading this print issue. I daresay this is the hardest I’ve worked since I had the gumption to run, and get crushed, against the phenom County Clerk Sandy Sopak back in 2005. Clearly decades older now, but I’m proud to roll up my sleeves with equal ambition for this newspaper’s continued success.
For the next 12 weeks, we will embark upon a planning period to develop a business plan, including the longterm vision and mission for the Jamestown Gazette. I am establishing an Advisory Group to help hone this plan and welcome input from all readers. As Stacey forever boasted, this is, so aptly: “The People’s Paper,” and together, we endeavor to continue to make it our own.
In the interim, I sincerely hope you will enjoy our planned “Community Spotlight Series” for the remainder of February through May. During this period, we will feature the leaders, businesses, and exciting happenings in each of the municipal centers that proudly make up the Greater Jamestown area…beginning next week with the Village of Lakewood! We will interrupt the series for special editions on St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, the Solar Eclipse, and Earth Day.
Thank you, again, my friends for your vote of confidence in this new venture together. Like the Presidents we celebrate today, we believe in our vision for the future.
Pictured below: Lakewood Deputy Mayor Ben Troche & Trustee Rich Fischer
