Thursday, March 28, 2024

Connect with us:

Giving thanks: From last Thanksgiving to this Thanksgiving

by Melanie Jongsma, Publisher

LANSING, Ill. (November 24, 2021) – In some ways it seems like a long time ago, but it was just last November that Managing Editor Josh Bootsma and I were working to pull together a December 2020 print edition that would record some of the local impacts of the pandemic year in our community. That issue would be the first after COVID’s impact on our advertisers forced us to pause printing for seven months.

giving thanks
It was just last Thanksgiving that we were working on this print edition. (Photo: Melanie Jongsma)

So when I look back at last Thanksgiving, I remember trying to navigate changes in economics, vendors, software, and delivery systems. It was a time of more questions than answers. It was a time of experimentation and a fingers-crossed kind of hope.

I also remember that we didn’t have to navigate those confusing times alone.

Readers like you stood with us. People contributed financial gifts, encouraging notes, and business ideas. Advertisers signed up to try digital ways of sharing their message. Readers shared our posts with their networks and encouraged others to sign up for local news.

So in a time of uncertainty, we continued to grow. We added new voices to our writing team. We enhanced our sports and education coverage. We installed a text-to-speech and Spanish translation plugin, and we began producing videos in order to share news in new ways.

I’m giving thanks for all of that.

I’m giving thanks for all of you.

Without you, this newspaper doesn’t exist. Thank you for believing in this important work. Thank you for seeing the need and making the investment.

Thank you for being the community in this community newspaper.
giving thanks

More giving thanks from last year and this year

Melanie Jongsma
Melanie Jongsma
Melanie Jongsma grew up in Lansing, Illinois, and believes The Lansing Journal has an important role to play in building community through trustworthy information.

Related

‘The Cave’ spa, Monarchs and mowing, police and fire annual reports – a Village Board summary

The Village Board meeting featured a special use request for massage therapy, LED streetlight conversions, and Monarch butterflies...

Permits, policing, pest control – Village staff share business-focused info at free session

"There's things that do happen in town," Phillips said of policing efforts. "A lot of our hotels give us a lot of problems."

District 215 School Board meeting agenda – 3/26/24

The District 215 School Board typically meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month to deliberate on District business...