Moving ahead

The past two weeks have been difficult for all of us who care deeply about The Charlotte News and this town we call home. We’ve read the posts on Front Porch Forum (FPF) and the articles in Seven Days and VT Digger. We’ve spoken with readers, donors and community leaders.

We will respond to the recent Seven Days and VT Digger articles in a few days. Some of the reporting was accurate; some was not. And there’s more to this story than has been reported.

As you read FPF and talk with others, remember that you know us. Over the many years we’ve lived in Charlotte, we’ve talked with you at Spears Corner Store and the Old Brick, joined you for classes at the Senior Center, chatted at CCS, the Library and Selectboard meetings, taught your children, voted alongside you at Town meetings, and chatted in passing on the Town Link Trail or on the way up Mt. Philo.

We care deeply about the health of this paper. We are honored by the opportunity to serve on the Board and to carry forward the dedication of those who came before us. In making decisions about controversial issues, we will move as quickly as possible. But we will not be rushed. We will be thoughtful and deliberate.

We’re well aware of The News’s history. We know that there have been ups and downs, and that through it all, the paper and the community have thrived. We share Liz Fotouhi’s long-term perspective also expressed on FPF:

“The Charlotte News has been around for more than 60 years and during that time Editors have come and gone along with Board Members, writers, advertisers and hundreds of volunteers with whom I am so proud to be listed. Each and every one of those people have put their personal mark on the paper and lovingly ushered and guided it step by step into the future to make it what it is today, a small town paper that continues to inform and celebrate our beloved Charlotte.”

We will continue to bring the The Charlotte News to your mailboxes, on time, every two weeks, 25 times a year. Producing the paper takes more than an individual in any role; it truly does take a village. For their work on this issue, we owe special thanks to Anna Cyr, our managing editor, and to Christy Hagios our advertising manager. Not to mention John Hammer, who came out of retirement to cover Monday’s Selectboard meeting, and to writers Bob Bloch, Elizabeth Bassett, Margo Bartsch, Mike Yantachka, Bradley Carleton, Margaret Woodruff, Carolyn Kulick, Susan Ohanian, Edd Merritt, Tom Giroux, Phyl Newbeck, John Moses, Nicole Conley, Katherine Arthaud, Kellyn Doerr, and Ethan Putnam.

Enjoy the paper. Enjoy spring. We’ll be back on April 8th.