Sometimes I get mail for the Chronicle addressed to “The News Department” or “The Puzzle Department.” These messages always make me smile. Although many parts go into making the Chronicle, we assemble most of them in our kitchen!
Since December is the Chronicle’s anniversary month, we thought it might be fun to take you on an inside journey of the construction of the CRC.
We are fortunate to have a collection of over 20 writers and contributors to our little paper. These folks are the reason we offer such a variety of creative content. Writing a monthly column might seem easy; after all, you have 30 days to think about it. But unless you’ve made that long-term writing commitment yourself, allow me to assure you it’s no small feat to come up with fresh ideas every month. But back to the writers. Along about the 15th of the month, writers get a reminder that they have an article due by the 20th. I usually have to wrangle in Rambling Randy several days past the due date (he lives in my house, so I don’t have to go far to hunt him down!), but everyone else is usually good about sending in their stories on time.
As the articles come in, I organize them into individual folders inside a monthly folder (which is also inside a yearly folder, but perhaps you don’t need ALL the details!) After most of the stories have arrived, I place them in an InDesign template. Each month I feel like I’m putting together a gigantic puzzle with different sized pieces. Layout is fun, but always a challenge.
Throughout the month, Randy and I make weekly trips to our Post Office box in Broadway to collect puzzle submissions. It’s such fun to open them and see who found the words each month. I’m still amazed at the number of people who take the time to do the word search and send it in. (We LOVE reading your little notes on the puzzles!) Believe it or not, it takes several hours to go through all the envelopes and type the names into a document. Randy has taken over opening the puzzles, and that’s a terrific help! While I’m typing in the names of puzzle solvers, I’m already thinking of a theme for the next month’s search.
On print day, Randy makes the trip to our printers–Narrow Passage Press in Edinburg to pick up our 2000 copies. Along the way back, he stops to drop off papers in 15 different places–libraries, businesses, and tourist centers. Writer and co-editor, Pat McNally, also delivers a trunkful of papers all around the Fulks Run, Bergton, Criders, Broadway, and New Market areas. Writer, Sarah Witmer, takes papers to the Singers Glen Post Office.
Another part of the CRC production is packaging and mailing papers to our over 100 subscribers. Randy also keeps track of subscriptions, not only getting them ready to mail but also keeping up with renewals and new subscribers. After Randy updates subscriptions for the month, I print off labels and stamps. On mail out day, the entire Cullers kitchen is a production room! Sometimes when I am off work for the day, I help him, but often, he does the mailings by himself.
And how do we pay the bills? Obviously, we can’t afford to print 2000 papers and give them away for free without a lot of help from area businesses. Some people assume that because I enjoy talking (surprised?), I am a salesperson. No way. Never-Ever. Many, many thanks go out to our Ad-man, Eugene Bare. He communicates with local businesses and sets up advertising for the paper. Without Eugene’s help, the Chronicle’s reach would be smaller, or it might not exist at all. Eugene also created and maintains our website (www.thechimneyrockchronicle.com), and along with Jessica Wangelin, schedules and posts stories on social media. He also sets up and sends out the electronic edition of the paper.
And last, but certainly not least, there’s you— our readers! Without you, our stories would go unread! We appreciate your constant encouragement and kind words. They mean a lot to the CRC writers and staff. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas season, and we look forward to sharing lots more stories in the coming New Year!
