Thank you,
Oglethorpe County. Your calls, emails and letters keep coming. Your loyalty and
support of The Echo and our community
are just what this newspaper needs. Next week will end one era and begin another.
Since 1956, the Maxwell family has been at the helm of The Oglethorpe Echo. The family’s positive contributions deserve
our praise.
Starting on Nov.
1, The Oglethorpe Echo Legacy Inc. will
take its first step into the future. This novel approach will not succeed
without you. You keep asking, “How can I help?”
Here’s how:
·
Subscribe.
And keep resubscribing. Encourage others to do the same. Expect a countywide circulation
campaign in the coming months. Readership is the lifeblood of a newspaper. You can help.
·
Advertise.
No matter the size of your ad, make The Echo
a regular part of your advertising strategies. You must be a good business
before you can achieve any of your other goals. Traditionally, advertising is
80 percent of the newspaper’s revenue. You
can help.
·
Donate.
By forming a new nonprofit corporation, The
Echo can accept your tax deductible donations. The IRS has our application.
Once approved, all donations will be made tax-deductible, retroactively. In
between UGA semesters, we will be using paid college interns. Perhaps you’d
like to sponsor one or more interns. You
can help.
·
Adopt.
For The Echo to be a sustainable business,
it needs to cover its overhead. Perhaps you’d like to “adopt” some portion of
the printing, postage, utility bills (power, water, phone and internet), and
assorted other expenses. For example, the water and sewer bill is $40 per
month. You can help.
·
Donate
energy. Maybe you’d like to volunteer for a variety of services, such as mowing
the grass, trimming the hedge and planting seasonal flowers. How are you with a
paint brush? The front exterior needs painting. Inside will get a fresh coat of
paint, too. If you are handy with tools, there’s a wall to be built to separate
the lobby and the warehouse space. You
can help.
·
Donate
time. The Echo will need
volunteers to help keep the office open. We’ll organize Friends of the Echo to
help answer the telephone, greet customers and assist with offices duties. If
you enjoy talking with folks, perhaps you’d enjoy selling advertising during
the Christmas season or for the annual graduation edition. There’s always something
that needs to be done. You can help. A community newspaper should be much like your
grandma’s quilt. It keeps you covered. The
Oglethorpe Echo gathers information and stitches those patches of news and
advertising into 52 unique editions each year.
Geographically,
Oglethorpe is one of Georgia’s largest counties. It’s a long way from Vesta to Maxeys.
We can’t be everywhere, every time. You can help. We salute the contributions
of Ralph Maxwell and his family. Next week, Ralph will “stitch” together his
last edition of The Oglethorpe Echo. I
hope you will reach out to Ralph and express your gratitude. Be sure to say
“thank you” to Jessica Colquitt, Brenda Norman, Elaine McGarity and John
Williams, too.
Our goal is
twofold. We want The Oglethorpe Echo to
be an essential part of your lives, while extending its 148-year legacy for
generations to come. We cannot do this alone.
You can help.
Thank you.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
