Publisher’s Letter: A Week to Remember

After the week I had last week, my friend Shawn said, “you should buy a lottery ticket.” I did.

I walked into the Schrader store at Ted’s Place, numbers in hand. My hopes were high. Let’s say I’m usually not lucky like that. Maybe next time.

Regardless of winning or losing, the crazy week I experienced is history. Thank you, God, for that.

• The week started with my mother’s unexpected death.
• Then I got the news that our delivery vehicle (inoperable for almost six months now) needs a transmission.
• While driving my trailer to Southern Colorado to be with family after my mom’s death, the siding blew off. It delayed my trip back.
• The county reported an urgent large tax bill.
• I got news from my doctor that I needed tests on a medical mystery, so I had a brief Hospital visit for an MRI (don’t worry, just precautionary).
• Then, my Jeep broke down in the hospital parking lot. I had to give it a jump.
• At the end of the week, while on my back porch, the motion light kicked on. I looked down and saw a skunk sniffing my foot. Thankfully that ended peacefully.

The list of complex challenges just seemed to keep growing. My friend said, “it’s only up from here.” And I appreciate the positive approach to this perspective, but I told him, “it can always be worse.”

And it can. So, I prefer to say, “there are better weeks ahead.”

Life is short.

I appreciate everyone in my life, their love, and their support. Even people I have recently had disagreements with should know.

It’s as simple as just telling them.

If you’re reading this column, hear this: I appreciate you. Whether you know me or not, you are a part of my life.

By simply reading North Forty News, you are showing your support. You are advancing this News initiative. And, for that, thank you.
Despite the terrible week I had, I got paid. And that was a huge relief.

I have talked to many small business owners, and among those conversations, we have all agreed that you sometimes make financial sacrifices to keep and run the business. Many business owners take the lowest salary of all employees, contribute more than they make, and do mountains of work with the hope that one day it will pay off.

I do all those things.

I do it with the hope of retiring someday and collecting some reasonable salary. But, I do it more because I believe it is essential to keep Northern Colorado’s only weekly regional news service alive and robust. Not for me but for the communities we serve.
Over the last six weeks, I have seen North Forty News grow again. It’s primarily a result of sharing with all of you that we need your support to keep it going. We secured new advertising, and our subscription count is up by 25. Our goal is to reach 1,000 new subscribers by January.

I believe we can do it.

I love Foco Cafe’s income model. Pay what you can afford, and work off the rest. There is inherent value in what we do at this news organization. Our overhead is high. I have set a price on our subscriptions for a reason. If you feel it’s too high (our lowest subscriptions come to $5.75 per month), let me know what you think you can afford. Please give me your ideas about how you can work off the rest. There is internet value in your time as well!

The bottom line, your support means the world to us, and we will support you back if it’s at all possible.

I love to collect jars. After last week, I decided I needed to fill them with positive energy.

I made candles—lots of them.

So, if you’re a supporter (recent or long time) and you’d like a gift, let me know. I’ll bring one to you. My email address is in the box below this article.

If you’d like to purchase one to show your support for North Forty News, you can now do so on our new online store (NOCO Marketplace) at this link: northfortynews.com/market

Our growth is evidence that your support for this organization will keep North a forty News going for multiple generations. And thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Support our efforts with a contribution for coverage in our communities at:

https://northfortynews.com/donate-now

For our current subscribers, driveway delivery of North Forty News is now available within a reasonable distance to state highways and urban areas.

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