Dear Reader,
Welcome to the launch of the New Pine Plains Herald. Today’s slim edition introduces the format we will be using in the weeks, months and, hopefully, years ahead.
In 2009 the Register-Herald closed, leaving the Pine Plains community without its own weekly newspaper for the first time in 150 years. A weekly article in the Millerton News and various Facebook pages have tried to fill the void, but the need for an ongoing publication dedicated simply to Pine Plains and its environs has been missing, until now.
The New Pine Plains Herald staff consists of more than a dozen volunteers who have worked closely together for several months and who began publishing a weekly newsletter this past September. Today, we begin a new phase of our endeavor. Our upgraded publication will be arriving at your inbox every Friday afternoon and we intend our website to be a useful place to learn about what is going on in and around Pine Plains.
Our volunteers have diverse backgrounds. Our careers have been in journalism, business, medicine, education, law, broadcasting, theater and public service. We share a curiosity about our community and a desire to make a positive contribution to civic life here.
Our vision is for the New Pine Plains Herald to function as a truly non-partisan publication that builds community ties. We have set high standards for ourselves, and we intend to honor them. Our goal is to provide readers with interesting articles and useful information each week that will help us all get to know our unique community better.
Subscriptions to the “Herald” will be free to all. We will ask for donations to cover our publishing costs. We will seek grants, conduct fundraising drives and eventually accept advertising in order to finance a paid staff position to supplement our volunteers’ efforts.
Our reporting will only attempt to cover three topics: the past, present and future of the Pine Plains neighborhood.
The past:
We will deliver, in bite sized portions, some of the history of Pine Plains. Particularly as the town celebrates its Bicentennial in 2023. We think folks will enjoy reading of the many interesting things that have happened here in 200 years.
The present:
Every week we will publish a digital newspaper filled with quality reporting, clear writing and appealing pictures. As our reporters make discoveries, we will share them with you. We will provide a solid listing of activities going on in and around town.
The future:
We intend to look forward and report on trends developing as small towns face the challenges of the 21st century. We will explore solutions to problems.
We will always be open to hearing from you. Contact us at info@newpineplainsherald.com with your comments and suggestions.
On behalf of our volunteer staff (Peter, Claire, Steve, Mary, Darrah, David, Donn, Alexis, Judith, Hank, Murphy, Lenora, Robert and myself) we wish you a New Year filled with pleasant surprises, good health and good reading.
Dick Hermans