When the community writes a story back
My daughter Susan, co-publisher, recently asked me to write another column about walking down memory lane for 67 years.
Last week, I did that, looking back at my years in Craig, Colorado, and the long journey that eventually brought Gerri and I to The Villager and 45 years of publishing in the South Metro Denver community.
This week, however, I want to look in a different direction.
I want to say thank you.
On Aug. 29, Gerri and I were deeply honored when we were inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame. Some time before the convention, we were contacted and told we had been selected for the Hall of Fame. We still don’t know who nominated us or exactly how the nomination came about, but we were certainly honored to learn that the Colorado Press Association had selected us.
We were then asked to provide information about our newspaper career for the convention program. It was an honor to have our names and career included in the program as part of the Hall of Fame recognition.
When the evening arrived, we wanted our family, and newspaper staff to be there with us. We invited them to attend, and we purchased dinner tickets for our staff so they could share this special occasion with us.
The award was presented to “Bob and Gerri Sweeney,” and that is exactly how it should be.
Our four children — Saundra, Sharon, Susan and Patrick — have been one of the great secrets to whatever success Gerri and I have had in the newspaper business.
They all grew up around newspapers. They had newspaper routes when they were young, and all four have contributed to the family newspaper business in important ways.
Saundra and Sharon each worked at The Villager for more than 35 years before retiring. They gave a tremendous part of their lives to the newspaper and helped carry the business through many years of changes and challenges.
Susan has now taken the reins and has become a first-class publisher and marketer. Patrick has been our behind-the-scenes problem solver, particularly when it comes to the computers, software and technology that keep the newspaper operating.
We are deeply grateful to all four of our children. The Villager would not be what it is today without them.
People have asked us what will happen to The Villager as the years go by.
I think we have a pretty good answer.
Just look at what Susan did.
After our Hall of Fame award, Susan decided to create a special edition of The Villager celebrating our family and the newspaper’s history. She gathered photographs, worked with our design/production manager Tom, contacted advertisers and reached out to friends and supporters throughout the community.
In a relatively short time, Susan and Tom created a beautiful 32 page edition, with a surprise photograph of Gerri and I receiving the Hall of Fame award on the front page.
Then came the part that touched us most.
Businesses that have supported The Villager for years stepped forward with congratulatory advertisements. Friends purchased greeting ads. Members of our staff wrote wonderful tributes. Our society editor, Scottie Iverson, also reached out to many of our friends and rounded up congratulatory greetings from them.
When that newspaper came together, it wasn’t simply a tribute to Bob and Gerri Sweeney.
It was a tribute to The Villager.
And it reminded us that a community newspaper is never built by two people alone.
The lifeline of a successful community weekly newspaper is the people who support it. Our faithful subscribers have followed The Villager for 45 years, subscribing year after year and making it possible for us to continue publishing the news of our communities.
They have turned to The Villager for stories about weddings, funerals, students & schools, local governments, non profits, community events and the people who make South Metro Denver special.
Without our family of loyal subscribers, The Villager could not exist.
And our loyal advertisers are equally important. They pay to reach the people in the communities we serve, while helping support the local newspaper that tells those communities’ stories.
Awards aren’t what keep a community newspaper alive. People do.
Our staff has carried this newspaper on its shoulders for many years. Writers, editors, production people, photographers, salespeople and the many people working behind the scenes have contributed to its success.
Tom McTighe has been a tremendous part of our production and design operation for nearly 20 years winning awards year after year.
Freda Miklin has been an outstanding writer for The Villager and has also continued to win awards for her work.
Scottie Iverson has served as our dedicated society editor for more than two decades covering community events and non profits.
Glory Weisberg worked with us for more than 30 years as our society writer and reporter. Her contribution to The Villager and the community was tremendous, and she remains a loyal reader of this newspaper.
Denny Dressman, our sports editor, spent 25 years with the Rocky Mountain News before retiring and joining The Villager about six years ago. He has been an incredible sports writer and he too has won awards for his work year after year.
There are many others, past and present, whose contributions have helped make The Villager what it is today including awarding-winning Becky Osterwald and Don Ireland of sister publication Weekly Register Call.
We have been fortunate to have an award-winning staff. The newspaper recently received 11 awards in the state press competition, with the entries judged outside Colorado. Those awards belong to the people who do the work every week.
We have watched businesses grow, community leaders come and go, families celebrate weddings and mourn losses. We have covered mayors, business leaders, civic organizations, schools, non profits and thousands of people doing important things in their communities.
That is what a community newspaper is supposed to do.
You have to get out of the office. You have to attend the meetings. You have to know the people. You have to listen. You have to care about what happens in the community.
We learned that lesson in Craig, and we brought those lessons with us to the Denver area and Arapahoe County.
The Villager has been fortunate to have the support of the business community, the South Metro community, the South Metro Denver Chamber, our advertisers, our readers and countless friends.
Gerri and I celebrated our 68th wedding anniversary on Sept. 7. Just a few days earlier, we had been honored by the Colorado Press Association. Then we opened the newspaper and saw our friends and business associates celebrating with us.
It was suprising and humbling.
That edition reminded us that The Villager has never belonged to Gerri and I alone. It belongs to our family, our staff, our advertisers, our subscribers, our readers and the community we have been privileged to serve.
To Saundra and Sharon, who gave more than 35 years each to The Villager; to Susan and Patrick, who continue to carry the newspaper forward; to our staff, for helping do the work every week; and to every friend, advertiser, subscriber and reader who has stood with us, we offer our heartfelt thanks.
When I look at the photograph of Gerri and me receiving the Hall of Fame award, I see more than two people. I see the many hands, hearts and friendships that made this journey possible.
For most of its life, a newspaper tells the story of its community.
Every once in a while, the community writes a story back — and reminds us that the greatest story of all is the one we have written together.