For over two decades, Sharon and I have been fortunate to publish What’s Happening Magazine (1998-2002) and Tri-City Voice (2002- ). Born from curiosity about our relatively new surroundings and frustration with reporting of events after they occurred, we decided to produce a modest newsletter highlighting coming local events. Things quickly spun out of control and we ended up with a full-fledged magazine.
Canvasing the area for information, possible articles and advertisers, the warm people, interesting places, cultural diversity and rich history of the southeast Bay Area soon became apparent. Our first advertiser, Swiss Park in Newark is a good example. Stopping in to what appeared to be a small restaurant and bar, I met Rosemary Ramsell who opened a door to the large meeting hall, ringed with flags of the cantons of Switzerland. She explained that the facility was (and remains) under cooperative Swiss-American ownership and how dairy farms once existed close by.
As we traveled through the area, it became evident that our philosophy of concentrating on local people, local venues and local events was not only a personal commitment, but recognized and well-received by the community.
Over time, we were able to convince more advertisers to join our efforts and many are still with us to this day. Notable among them is Washington Hospital that has been steadfast in its support. The list is too long to enumerate in this column, but they appear throughout our issues and are deeply appreciated. As a broadsheet size publication, Tri-City Voice defied the odds during difficult economic challenges with the help of our loyal readers, subscribers and advertisers.
From a small apartment with our pet cat and rabbit walking over and sitting on our carefully laid pages preparing for printing, to the generous offer by Roland and Terri Willits to occupy space in their building free of charge and finally to our present location and generous support of Larry Fudenna and the Fudenna family, Sharon and I, along with a wonderful staff of editors, writers, in-house and delivery personnel have continued to serve our communities.
With an able staff, supportive community and advertisers, Sharon and I have decided to ensure continuation of Tri-City Voice by joining the Weekly’s group of newspapers and introduce new management.
Father Time has given us clear signals to spend more time with family, especially our new great-granddaughters. Although we have trained and prepared our staff to carry on our goals and philosophy without us, it is a bittersweet moment with no small amount of regret. However, we anticipate an active retirement with plans for a small business – nothing as grand as Tri-City Voice – to keep us busy.
Thank you is not enough but please accept this sentiment as a deep and true feeling of gratitude for our tumultuous, exciting and wonderful experience.
As the Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler, says, “know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em..” We are walking away from the table with pride in our publication, our communities and what we know will be a bright future for both.