Celebrate our new website!

Lara Dickson of Deep Dish Creative teaches a WordPress workshop for The News. The Charlotte News has a brand new, professional online presence. Please log on at thecharlottenews.org and tell us what you think. Photo by Lynn Monty.

Everything you love in The Charlotte News biweekly publication can now be found, bigger and better than before, online at our new website. The new site is the result of the work and support of many friends of The News. Special thanks, however, go to Lara Dickson, who completed the development of the site, to board member Louisa Schibli, who shepherded the project to its successful completion, and to Alice Outwater, whose generosity funded the project.

It was in the 1950s when Alice was first introduced to the town of Charlotte. She and her husband, John, both academics at the University of Vermont, owned property on Thompson’s Point. “We have always loved the spirit here,” she said. “I stay involved in the town because of its integrity and sense of community. Things are very thoughtfully and carefully done here.”

Special thanks goes to Alice Outwater whose generosity funded the new website project. Courtesy photo.

Alice remembers the paper in its infancy and has seen wonderful growth and enthusiasm over the years, she said. “I had a little extra in my bank account and decided to give it to the paper so I could watch what’s next,” she said. “I know the paper is headed somewhere important, yet suitable for Charlotte. I never underestimate what Vermonters can do.”

In addition to her financial contributions to the new website, Alice also funded the paper’s internship program, which has brought talented high school and college students into the newsroom for training as journalists and archivists, and the creation of The News’ digital archives, which puts every issue of the paper since 1958 at the fingertips of our readers—just click on “Archives” on the home page and start your own dive into the history of Charlotte as captured by The News. And thank Alice for making it all possible.

Graphic and web designer Lara Dickson, founder of Deep Dish Creative, applied her thoughtful design aesthetic to The News’ online venture. Considerable planning and careful consideration went into each page and category. Dickson has two decades of experience, is a University of Alaska graduate and an award-winning designer. She now pairs her creative talents with farming on Next Chapter Farm in West Berlin where she raises pigs and chickens.

As for keeping a small local newspaper not only afloat but growing digitally, Alice said she commends the large number of dedicated people behind the scenes, like Dickson, who do all of the heavy lifting. “The better it gets, the more professional it looks, the easier it looks to do, like the paper must just do itself,” she said with a laugh. “But people need to get paid. The truth of the matter is we need to support it. At heart we all want to belong and to feel appreciated, and I think The Charlotte News is an important part of that in this community.”

To support The News please mail checks to The Friends of the Charlotte News, P.O. Box 211, Charlotte, VT 05445, or visit our donation page.

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