Tell your part of the community’s story in 2019

You hold in your hands one of the smallest newspapers we produce each year. 
Everyone wants to advertise at Christmas, but then there is a period afterward where everyone wants a bit of break so that they can rejoice or recover from the holidays, and prepare for the inevitable no-fun tax season, and plans for the coming year. 
This newspaper for us, is one of the rare opportunities where we get to present you with more News Letter Journal ads or “house ads” and brag on ourselves a bit rather than our advertisers.
I hope you will take notice of the “Bragging Rights” ad on page two this week. We have always been pleased and proud to publish your birth announcements, engagements, weddings, military graduations or achievements, and just about any other accomplishment you can think of. 
The best part about it is that it is and always has been free! Yes, no charge! So why are so few of you letting us tell your stories and happy news? Last week’s annual Year in Review issue listed only two births, and one engagement. I’m sure there were many more, but those were the only ones we received. 
I gather that everyone posts their announcements now on social media. Yes, it’s instantaneous, but I caution you not to rely solely on that medium to log the histories of your lives. 
First, a lot of our citizens simply don’t use it, and never see your happy posts and photos. Second, I’ve never felt it is a real record. We have newspapers dating back over 130 years right in our offices. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve researched an event or announcement a hundred years old, and yet, there it is – in print! 
We can photograph it and make a copy, and we have for countless individuals who are researching history or family events. 
I wonder if, 100 years from now, your great-grandchildren will be able to access your family milestones on Facebook or Instagram. I suppose it’s possible, but I have my doubts. 
So, this year, let us share all of your milestones. E-mail us your information and a photo, or just bring it down to the newspaper, and we’ll make sure the days of your lives live on forever in our newspaper.  
Another ad we’re running this week is all about our annual “Get It Here Guide”. 
This is like a local phone book featuring detailed  listings from almost every business in town. It lists all of the important stuff, address, phone number, and a photo of your business, but the real fun, is that you get to tell our readers about your business, and you have an awful lot of space to do it in for only $50.00 per listing. 
It is truly one of your best and most economical ways to tell the community about you! 
We’ll be hitting the streets soon for the guide, and we hope you’ll tell us what we can do for you and your business in the upcoming year. We have lots of ways for you to be involved — be it in the weekly newspaper, our special publications, live sports broadcasts, on-line advertising, and yes, even Facebook. 
We’d love to hear how we can help you succeed. 
See you soon!