One of the pleasures of getting older is that during the holidays, I no longer fret about finding the “perfect” gift for those I love, or worry about which relative I’m obligated to spend Christmas with, or stress about hosting holiday parties.
This year, I celebrated Christmas with my daughter and Florida family over New Year’s, and will open presents in mid-January with my son’s family in Kentucky.
With family celebrations delayed a bit, I had time over Christmas to reflect on 2017 and to think about the many things I am excited about in the new year.
Since many of my achievements and aspirations involve this newspaper, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts with you.
Looking Back
The Laker/Lutz News continued to grow in circulation, content and advertising revenue in 2017. Not too many years ago, many people believed print was dead — especially newspapers. But, that certainly is not the case here at The Laker/Lutz News, as we continue to buck the downward trends reported by most daily newspapers.
This past year, we added more than 1,000 papers to our home delivery routes, bringing our weekly circulation up to 45,322. We continue to add circulation, so we can deliver to new households going up in Lutz, Land O’ Lakes and Wesley Chapel.
New residents are keenly interested in their new community, and like you, look to us to keep them informed about their neighbors, things to do, government, schools, local sports, business openings, roads and growth issues.
Our newsroom expanded this past year with the addition of freelance photographers Randy Underhill and Christine Holtzman. They join longtime photographers Richard Riley and Fred Bellet as regular contributors to our papers.
Madonna Jervis Wise, a historian living in Zephyrhills, also began writing occasional columns for us, joining Doug Sanders, another local historian.
Other regular contributors are Betsy Crisp, who writes our What’s Cookin’ column and Nicole Pinson and Whitney C. Elmore, who write about gardening topics for Nature Notes.
I’m proud of our editorial team that received a total of 15 awards from the Florida Press Association and Community Papers of Florida.
This work has been accomplished by Editor B.C. Manion, staff writers Kevin Weiss and Kathy Steele, and editorial assistant Mary Rathman, as well as freelance contributors.
Matt Mistretta and Stefanie Burlingame have used their skills to present a well-designed newspaper, with outstanding content, to our readers every week.
We also earned many awards on the advertising side of our business, including Best of Show at the Awards for Excellence ceremony sponsored by Community Papers of Florida. This prestigious award recognized “Fun on 41 – Discover the Wonders,” a full-page ad that uses a hand-drawn map to illustrate shopping destinations and restaurants along U.S. 41 in Land O’ Lakes.
To stay on top of the many new businesses opening in our area, we added new sales staff in 2017 — Cheryl Michel in Land O’ Lakes and Anne Kibbe in East Pasco. Anne performed so well in Dade City and Zephyrhills that she was recently promoted to sales manager, and works closely with Cheryl and Rachel Thompson, our passionate classified sales person.
This sales team joins Terri Williamson, our longtime senior account manager who works with businesses in Wesley Chapel and Lutz.
Terri played a key role in the launch of our monthly section, There’s No Place Like Home, that’s written for folks looking to buy a new home in Pasco and north Hillsborough. Terri’s involvement with the Tampa Bay Builders Association has been instrumental in this section’s success, and is a tribute to her commitment and hard work.
Backing up Terri is team member Carolyn Bennett, whose superb organizational skills keep Terri moving forward. And, backing me up is Accounting Manager Mary Eberhard, whose financial oversight of our company keeps our cash flow maximized and my stress level minimized.
Looking Ahead
We’ve had a strong fourth quarter and expect business to continue at a brisk pace, as we enter 2018. We are well-positioned to grow along with our community, and we are excited about the New Year.
