Readers, please mark Aug. 15 down on your calendars. We’re having an Open House at The Chatham Voice’s new offices on Sass Road.
Between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., stop by our location at 71 Sass Rd. Unit 4, and get a tour of the building.
We’re also having a fundraising barbecue – all funds raised will go to help Ebony Vandenbogaerde, the 12-year-old Chatham girl who is in hospital recovering from spinal surgery, and faces life as a paraplegic. The family is going to need a lot of support in the near future. Her story appeared in the July 26 Chatham Voice.
We’ll also have door prizes and draws, and don’t forget to sign our birthday card.
We’re turning five this summer!
It’s hard to believe it’s been five years for The Chatham Voice already. Time flies when you are having fun.
When Jim Blake and I started this paper back in 2013, we did so with a simple mantra in mind: “Local, local, local.”
We are locally owned, the articles are locally produced and focused on local people and events, and we do as much as possible in terms of production of our paper right here in Chatham-Kent.
The only thing we can’t accomplish here is the printing. We leave that up to the good folks from McLaren Press Graphics in Gravenhurst.
Everything else is done right here at our Sass Road office.
We moved here in June to bring the newspaper bundling and inserting elements in-house, as our former office on Dover Street didn’t have warehouse space.
Here, we write the stories, build the advertisements and lay out the newspaper every week, and now prepare the papers for our delivery people. It’s all under one roof.
No other newspaper in Chatham can boast of such extensive local efforts.
Independent newspapers such as The Chatham Voice feature ownership and staff with vested interests in their community. We at The Voice, all live here.
The five years wouldn’t have been possible without the Herculean efforts of dedicated staff. Mary Beth, Fatima and Michelle have all been here since Day One. They keep me grounded, and are a treat to work with. Where else can I be pelted by foam balls?
For the record, I usually deserve it, as I’ve either pranked someone in the office, or made a wisecrack remark.
Mary Beth, my better half, has to put up with me at the office and home, so she deserves angel’s wings and a halo.
Fatima, my current “work wife,” doesn’t put up with my jokes, giving as good or better than she gets. Her work getting us set up in the warehouse and leading the way each Tuesday is nothing short of amazing.
Michelle, my ex-work-wife, never seems to run out of energy. She approaches every task with zeal. She may be our graphics person here, but her knowledge, experience, and positive attitude in most other facets of the newspaper business are greatly appreciated.
Jeanine Foulon has been a ball of energy ever since she agreed to help us in ad sales more than a year ago. Jeanine, Jeanine the Sales Machine is an apt nickname for her.
Nadine Bax continues to sell special events for us, and her connection to the community is certainly appreciated.
That’s our core right now at The Voice, but we are looking to add a salesperson in the near future.
We have additional freelance support. Sarah Schofield has been underutilized by us, but her photography work is exceptional.
Aaron Hall, one of the owners of The Sydenham Current in Wallaceburg, is a longtime friend. We share items of importance, to help get the information to the people of Chatham-Kent.
I must also mention Greg Hetherington and the folks at CKXS 99.1 in Wallaceburg, another locally owned, independent media outlet. Greg and I chat weekly about what’s in our paper, and what’s going on in the community.
We have some pretty incredible support. It all works to deliver diverse content to you, the reader, every week. From news to features to opinion articles, we have local writers and photographers capturing life in Chatham-Kent and package it up weekly in The Chatham Voice
So, please stop in Aug. 15 and say hello, have a bite and help Ebony and her family.
