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This is my monthly thank-you from Old Mission Gazette. As you know, we are a reader-supported newspaper, and we absolutely could not publish the Gazette without the support of all of you.
Writing and publishing the Gazette is not Tim’s and my side-gig. It’s our full-time job, and we rely on our generous readers to make it all happen every day. We do have a few advertisers, but we like to keep our advertising base small so that it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the content on the website. Readers seem to like that, too.
Old Mission Gazette is Reader Supported.
Click Here to Keep the Gazette Going.
When someone donates to the Gazette through our online donation page, an automated “thank-you” goes out to each donor. But that never seems like enough for me, so I try to follow up with a personalized thank-you to everyone.
But if you’ve been reading the Gazette for a while, you also know that my email inbox is like one of those black holes in space where things often disappear, never to be seen or heard from again. I get hundreds of emails every day, and it’s a challenge to keep up with them while writing and editing the Gazette every day.
So this is my big thank-you to everyone who I may not have thanked via email, with a hand-written card in the mail, or in person when I see you out in the community. Local journalism is more important now than ever, and we hope you love reading the Gazette as much as we love publishing it.
We never take for granted the unique situation we are in – to have grown up on the Old Mission Peninsula, to be part of farm families that go back generations here, and to have the opportunity every day to share our history and love for the Old Mission Peninsula with all of you.
As I’ve often noted, I feel like my entire life has been leading up to this job. I published my first OMP newspaper when I was eight years old, growing up in a house in the village of Old Mission. I created a little “newsroom” in a thicket of sumac near our house. My reporters were my dog, Jennifer, and cat, Calico.
I went on to pursue a career in jounalism, writing at first for local publications like the Traverse City Record-Eagle, Northern Express, Traverse Magazine and Traverse City Business News. From there, I went on to write for bigger newspapers like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Times of London, and magazines like Family Circle, Woman’s Day and Ladies’ Home Journal.
Somewhere along the way, I fell into the niche of writing about movies, TV and celebrities. I’ve interviewed hundreds of celebs, from Tom Hanks to Julia Roberts to George Clooney, and created a syndicated family movie column, Reel Life With Jane. I learned how to build websites, decode search engine optimization, navigate social media, and take acceptable photos.
But I never forgot about my dream of building an Old Mission Peninsula newspaper, and I took all of that journalism knowledge and combined it with my history on the OMP to create Old Mission Gazette in 2015. Five years later, we’re still here and growing every day, and it’s because of all the support and encouragement all of you give us every day.
If you’d like to help support the Gazette and keep the daily stories on this website and coming to your inbox via our weekly newsletter, click here.
There are options to donate via PayPal or credit card, and you’re always welcome to send a check in the mail to Old Mission Gazette, 12875 Bluff Road, Traverse City, MI 49686. We also have a recurring donation option, so if you can spare even $5 or $10 a month, that would be awesome.
We’re also on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I know social media can be overwhelming, but if you haven’t followed us on Facebook yet, hop over there and hit the “like” button. We often post breaking stories and time-sensitive things there.
Another way you can help support us is to visit our online store, OMPstore.com, where we sell unique OMP-inspired tees, hats and more, including collections like M37, Old Mission Panthers and OMPeace.
Thank you! And always, feel free to email me, [email protected], any time if you have any questions or suggestions for the Gazette. We love hearing from you.
SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.
Because Old Mission Gazette is a "Reader Supported Newspaper" -- meaning it exists because of your financial support -- I hope you'll consider tossing a few bucks our way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what's happening on the OMP. In a time when local news is becoming a thing of the past, supporting an independent community newspaper is more important now than ever. Thank you so much for your support! -Jane Boursaw, Editor/Publisher, Old Mission Gazette
To keep the Gazette going, click here to make a donation.
To view or leave comments on this story, click HERE.
