Thank you, Claudia Marshall

We are pleased to recognize the contributions of Claudia Marshall, who has stepped down from our board of directors and fundraising committee. She will be missed greatly by all who have worked with her over the past five years.

Claudia came to The Charlotte News with a deep background in journalism and fundraising. In New York City, she held positions as network news anchor at CBS News and ABC News, and as the host of National Public Radio’s flagship contemporary music station WFUV-FM.

After moving to Vermont in 2012, she worked as an on-air fundraiser for Vermont PBS, produced and reported lifestyle and feature segments for VPR News, North Country Public Radio and the Burlington Free Press, and worked for three years as the Director of Good Works and Public Relations at Gardener’s Supply Company.

So many of us have learned a lot while working with her, especially in our fundraising efforts. She is a creative and talented copywriter, a thoughtful campaign strategist and a superb communicator. Although many of the stories, updates and emails that were part of our fundraising campaigns were released under my name, most of the ideas and copy were hers.

The Charlotte News is in a relatively stable financial position today, and much of the credit for our success belongs to Claudia Marshall. Over the years, she put in untold hours thinking carefully about what would be most effective and what would not, drafting and redrafting copy and doing it all with cheerful enthusiasm and a commitment to often unreasonable deadlines.

When she rejoined the board in March 2022, after a year away, she wrote, “Independent, nonprofit news is such a valuable asset to all of us because it represents the diverse voices of so many of our neighbors. And now, more than ever, we need to try to understand each other.”

True then, true now.

“Thank you, Claudia” doesn’t come close to expressing our gratitude, but from everyone associated with the newspaper — employees, board members and volunteers — thank you for everything you have given to our community newspaper.

Claudia Marshall is also a talented singer and multi-instrumentalist and played to an enthusiastic crowd at the Charlotte Congregational Church last Sunday in a benefit performance that featured a wide range of music, from Tin Pan Alley jazz to pop and rock hits from the 70s. Hopefully, we’ll be able to enjoy more of these performances in the future!

(John Quinney is a member of The Charlotte News board of directors and chair of the fundraising committee.)