We made it. Happy first anniversary to the Advocate-Messenger family.

One year ago, Jenna, Cassidy, Sandy and I were using my dining room table as a desk and took over the Schindler hacienda, creating and putting the pieces together for the inaugural issue.

Quite a bit has changed in 12 months: we purchased The Office building in Clearwater, waded through the pandemic, applied for our periodicals postal permit (what an experience!) and have hired a veteran community journalist to join our staff in a few weeks.

Whew!

One thing that has not changed is our mission to bring quality, ethical and straightforward journalism to our readers. We believe journalists are the watchdog of the communities they serve and we will strive to bring fair, balanced and honest reporting to the forefront.

The one-year mark is important for several reasons; most importantly, it designates we have published 52 consecutive issues and gain ‘legal’ status. Reaching this point means we can print, and be paid for, legal notices, per Nebraska State statute. Since we opened, we have printed legal notices in the paper - budgets, early voter application, etc. - free of charge, as a service to readers.

Reaching this milestone also means we will have a class two periodical mailing permit from the United States Postal Service. Right now, we have a pending periodicals permit in place, in addition to a class three permit. We appreciate when you let us know you haven’t received your copy of the paper. We maintain a list and share it with postal officials. We are hopeful securing a new permit will improve delivery time, too.

A reminder to readers: if you subscribe to the paper, you also have free access to the online E-edition. If you need assistance creating an online account, contact the office and we will be happy to assist you get signed up so you can read SAM wherever you are.

Our mission continues in year two. We believe in the importance of community, our community - the Summerland community - and know the importance of sharing the joys and concerns of all who reside here. The heartbeat of this publication is community, and together, we will thrive and share responsible, trustworthy stories from rural America.

Scott and I want to thank our staff - Jenna, Sandy, Elizabeth, Travis, Erin, Cassidy, Morgan, Carm, Jody, Amy, Terri and Bev - for making work not seem like work. We appreciate you so much.

We hope you join us, Thursday, July 23, as we kick off year two. An open house is scheduled at our office at 522 Main Street in Clearwater, from 4 to 8 p.m. We’ll serve refreshments, chat about news and get to know you better.

To our readers, we cannot express our thanks to you enough. Thank you for believing in the power of local community journalism. Thank you for subscribing to our start-up publication. Thank you for believing in the Summerland Advocate-Messenger.