Milestones: Turning of Age

Today this writer celebrates another Milestone: turning 80 years of age. Half of those years have been as Publisher of The Weekly.

Through those years my column has made hundreds of observations, expressed opinions, broke a few stories, complimented some, occasionally criticized, made suggestions, and most often, offered a point of view.

Putting out a newspaper every week for 40 years is, honestly, the work of my talented staff. Our Editor, Angie Tolliver, has been with us for nearly 30 years. Assistant Editor Carolyn Schuk almost two decades. Coming up on three years is our newest in-house addition and Managing Editor, Alissa Soroten.

In addition, we couldn’t go to press weekly without the assistance of the many writers who cover every corner of our communities and most of their activities.

My thanks to Larry Sacks who has been capturing great photos and writing stories for more than a decade.

You may also recognize articles with by-lines written by Diane Andrews, Jacob Bourne, Erika Towne, Mary Hanel, Melissa McKenzie, David Alexander, Cynthia Cheng and Andrew Bensch.

Another big thank you to our subscribers.

It may surprise you, none of these talented writers, reporters and photographers work for free. Your subscription is a key cog in the wheel of bringing you informative community news every week.

It may also surprise some readers…no we are not paid by or supported by any city or government agency. We are an independent self-supporting source of community news, information and opinion. Your subscription is a huge help.

It is interesting that we receive calls nearly every week from residents who tell us: “I didn’t receive my paper this week.” When asked if they are subscribers and if they say “no” we explain that we rotate distribution around our communities, so they may only receive the paper once every few weeks. When you subscribe, you receive the paper every week.

The Weekly is adjudicated in Santa Clara County. Therefore, we qualify to publish any and all legal notices for all 15 cities in the County. Those legal notices are very important and full of information which are reviewed by banks, developers, attorneys and contractors every week.

In completing 40 years as publisher, my sincere thanks to our advertisers who recognize the value of reaching our communities with their ads. Community support of our advertisers is a great endorsement to them.

So, how much longer are we going to continue this gig? In checking, I notice we still have some ink in the barrel, which we will probably use.

I just know there will be some upcoming City items that demand an opinion.

That’s a wrap for this half.

Thank you for your readership.