By the time you read this, the publisher and editor of these newspapers will be bound for the East Coast to spend the holidays with family and friends.
This year we are taking a week’s vacation between Christmas and New Year’s and not publishing a 52nd edition of our newspapers— a break for advertisers’ budgets, as well as for support staff who would have to gather news and lay out pages on Christmas Day.
We did the same thing last year, but for a different reason. Yours truly underwent surgery on December 19, and I feel very blessed to have made a full recovery. Your prayers, well-wishes and kind thoughts were greatly appreciated.
Five years ago we bought our first newspaper, The Texas Spur—still our home base and flagship—and now, half a decade later, we own five, having added The Caprock Courier, The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon, The Knox County News-Courier and The Post Dispatch.
I would like to take this time at the end of the year, as we are in season of celebration and commemoration, to recognize the people who week in, week out work together as a team with us to deliver our area’s stories, chronicles and history.
Our Texas Spur and Caprock Courier team includes office manager Gayla Brown and our Tuesday night distribution group: Dillon Marshall, Jackson Pesina and Beverly Pickett. Others have come and gone during 2023, and we greatly appreciate all of them.
For the Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon, managing editor Barbara Anderson marks 27 years of overseeing content and advertising.
For The Post Dispatch, editor and publisher Julia Childs oversees content and advertising along with the assistance of columnist Voda Beth Gradine.
For The Knox County News-Courier, Vonda Carter oversees content and advertising along with the assistance of news editor Don Thompson. Connor Morgan and Claudia Pérez lay out forty-plus newspaper pages each week, along with creating ads and overseeing production.
Our contributing columnists and writers make our newspapers richer and better with a variety of voices. They include Gus Clemens, wine columnist for The Post Dispatch, Genell Knisley, faith columnist for that same paper; Angelina LaRue, food columnist; Ellen Peffley, gardening columnist; Sue Jane Sullivan, think-piece columnist; and Hanaba Munn Welch, humor columnist for The Caprock Courier, The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon, The Knox County News-Courier, and The Post Dispatch.
Local librarians contribute valuable columns every week in The Texas Spur, The Post Dispatch and The Caprock Courier—and we greatly appreciate their words of readerly wisdom for all ages. Our local libraries are a treasure, and offer a haven and respite into the world of books and stories. Their guidance helps our readers take best advantage of this resource.
Contributing writers such as Doug Hensley provide a fresh take on topics from sports to local events and characters. Freelance photographers Fred and Gracie Cervantes, Gracie Diaz and Robin Sanders make our papers’ pages lively and colorful, along with the help of yearbook photographers and fan volunteers.
Sports coverage in Knox County is assisted by the unique talents of Sheri Baty and Kate Brown.
A few of our contributing writers modestly prefer to forgo a byline, and we thank them and honor their reticence by not naming them.
Delisa Soles, our distribution maven, ensures that newspapers arrive at local post offices and on dozens of newsstands throughout the region, in all kinds of weather and road conditions.
We also want to thank you, our readers, for your loyalty in subscribing to our newspapers and for providing us tips and feedback. We couldn’t do what we do without you.
A huge note of gratitude goes to our advertisers. We hope that you find value in reaching the audience that we deliver week in, week out.
Every week our five newspapers cover 10 counties and 15 school districts, offering the largest geographic media footprint between Abilene and Lubbock. But we hope we offer more than that. By sharing talents and resources, we hope we provide a regional network of information, ideas, and inspiration that help you value the place you call home.
Here’s wishing you the merriest of Christmases, and may you find hope and optimism for the coming new year.
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