One of the best things about Carbondale is the extent of community involvement and cooperation. After the corporate owned Valley Journal went bust in December 2008, a collection of civic minded folks rose to the challenge of creating their own newspaper and managed to publish the first issue of the Sopris Sun in February 2009.
Every Thursday when the paper hits the newsstands, I grab a copy, get out my red pen and scour each page; circling events I’m interested in attending, and adding them to my personal calendar. Because of the Sun I’m able to keep abreast of local development projects and land conservation issues. And while reading through the articles, I frequently encounter familiar names and am prompted to call or email offering congratulations on wedding anniversaries, birthdays, new baby, new business venture, or condolences on the death of a loved one or even a pet.
The Sopris Sun keeps us connected to each other and to our town. It’s a paper of the people, by the people, and for the people. Just like the first pamphlets that were printed and distributed hundreds of years ago in America, the newspaper has gone back to its roots.
Small towns like Carbondale are one place where in an age of electronic media increasingly replacing print, a local newspaper can thrive. One reason is because we know and care about our neighbors, business owners, arts community, elected representatives, and media personnel. Another is that there’s so much gosh darn stuff going on all of the time. The only way to keep up with the concerts, festivals, fundraisers, volunteer opportunities, classes, meetings, get-togethers, school events and interesting personal stories, is to gather it together into a weekly newspaper. I’m thankful there are people willing to do that for me. In appreciation I’ve even contributed a few articles myself.
One of the unusual aspects of the Sopris Sun is that while some of the funds used to produce the paper come from advertising, much of it comes from donations by members of the community.
Last Thursday evening I attended the Sun’s Volunteer Appreciation Party/Fundraiser at The Village Smithy in Carbondale. The event was well attended by the usual “townies” (people who live, work, volunteer or hang out downtown). Members of Carbondale’s arts and entertainment communities were there, along with current and former Town Council folks, local business owners, most of the Wake Up Now group consisting of civically active retirees, and of course the employees and volunteers of the Sopris Sun. In short, a good deal of the people I’ve met and associated with for all of my twelve years in Carbondale were there.
It was apparent by the enthusiastic reaction to a request for membership and donations, that many community members see the vital importance of maintaining the life of our local weekly newspaper.
So I can say with the greatest pleasure that though the big corporate newspapers may be dying nationwide, the local community newspaper is alive and well here in Carbondale.
Thank you to all of the employees and volunteers of the Sopris Sun for stepping up to the plate and hitting a home run! They include: Editors Trina Ortega & Terray Sylvester, Advertising Agents Kristin Algren, Anne Goldberg, Tim Kurnos, Reporter Jeremy Heiman, Photographer and “Jane of All Trades” Jane Bachrach, Production Atists Terri Ritchie and Barbara New, Paper Boys Russ Criswell and Mark Burrows, Organizing Board Members Russ Criswell, Peggy DeVilbiss, Allyn Harvey, Colin Laird, Elizabeth Phillips and Rebecca Young and the many volunteers, correspondents and contributors.
Sopris Sun online: http://www.soprissun.com/
Sun articles by Sue Gray posted on Aspen Post:
http://www.aspenpost.net/2009/08/11/a-fresh-start/