Attendees at the first meeting of the Friends of the Greater Olney Library
So a wee bit ago, my community newspaper, The Olney Times, stopped being delivered to my house. It took me a while to notice. And then I realized that the paper had not been (as in previous times), commandeered forcibly by a neighborhood dog or swept to the side by an unruly toddler. It was truly gone. Sadness. A community without a newspaper is hardly a community, indeed.
And then, miraculously, thanks to local businessmen, citizens and legislators, including Mark Cohen – it came back. A miracle indeed.
“A little over a month later, Pleis, Cohen and several other volunteers joined forces to resurrect a new community newspaper. Their new paper, named “Your Community Voice,” will serve residents in Olney and expand its coverage to the surrounding areas. The free paper will be available for pick up every month at area businesses, churches, schools and other community centers.”
And guess what was listed in the first issue? A community invite to the first “Friends of the Greater Olney Library Branch” invite. And people came. Having read the paper.
Thank you very much for your warm and enthusiastic support for Your Community Voice.
Your Community Voice is a volunteer-driven, non-profit organization. We would welcome people who would like to help with (1) advertising (taking ads for businesses, chusrches, or community organizations, or helping sell ads on commission), (2) news (getting our paper on mailing lists, or writing stories for it about events in which you participate), or (3) distribution (getting the paper out to locations and events in the communities it serves from Wister Avenue to the Northeast south of Grant Avenue, from the Roosevelt Boulevard area to the Cheltenham border.
Press releases, stories, or ads should be emailed to camacho1089@msn.com. Black and white ads cost $300 for a full page, $200 for a half page, $115 for a quarter page, $65 for an eigth of a page, $10 a square inch for any other size. Color ads cost $100 more than black and white ads for a full page, and $50 more for any other size ad.
General manager Sonia Thomas can be reached at 215-200-6144. She and Editor Jean Pleis can be reached at the Your Community Times office at 215-424-0700.
Your Community Voice is starting small, so as to increase the likelihood that we will not be an additional casualty to the minimum 229 American newspapers that have folded since January 1, 2008. With continued enthusiastic community support, we will have a chance to grow and expand in the months and years ahead.