Looking back on nearly 2 years of The Wakulla Sun
By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor
I can’t believe we are about to head into our second year of The Wakulla Sun.
It was February 2022 when our first issue came out.
For decades, we were the staff of The Wakulla News, until Paxton Media bought the paper. Without even being aware of our profitability, they ordered me to fire half the staff – and then to implement changes to take away local control.
I contacted the corporation about buying the paper, was refused. Tried again, made an offer to buy, and was refused again.
I submitted my resignation, unsure of what I was going to do next – but several people suggested I start my own paper, and eventually was convinced.
But this isn’t a one-man show. The whole staff of The Wakulla News resigned and came here to start this paper: Lynda, who had been the News for more than 30 years; Eric, who’d been there for nearly 20 years.
I often think of core staff of the Sun as a three-legged stool – me on news, Lynda on sales, Eric on building ads and our systems – and without any one leg, the stool is broken.
Credit to other staff: Jessi Smith was the newspaper carrier at the News for 10 years; Riddhi Patel was a correspondent at the News and was our first reporter for the Sun.
Krystal Sheppard was inside sales/reception at the News for five years.
I do not take lightly the leap of faith they all took to do this with me.
They all believed in our mission: together to put out publications that reflect the community.
In addition to the weekly newspaper, we also publish the Sun Monthly, which goes to every home in the county; and our annual magazine, Gulf Coast Breeze, a visitors guide to Wakulla.
But a newspaper also needs readers: it needs advertisers and subscribers.
I cannot express how much I appreciate the support this newspaper has received from the community.
We have seen explosive growth in our readership – and we keep growing. Thank you.
And thank you to our advertisers who have been with us, stuck with us, and are a part of our community family. We couldn’t do this without you.
When starting this newspaper, I debated whether to go with the regular for-profit business model or non-profit. Each had its benefits and its drawbacks.
I decided to try a hybrid: set up as a regular limited liability company, but we would accept tax-deductible donations through the Florida Press Foundation, which is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.
As I was writing this, I got a call from the Florida Press Foundation that a large check had come in from a Sopchoppy subscriber. A check for several thousand dollars.
Earlier this week, a subscriber stopped by the office to renew the annual subscription of $35 and rounded it up to $50 as a donation.
Throughout the year, people have made donations to keep this newspaper going because they believe in what we’re doing.
These donors believe in the role of a local newspaper that is locally run, locally owned, staffed by people who have been a part of the community for decades.
Thank you to all of our supporters. What you do makes it possible for us to do what we do.
At the risk of leaving somebody out, I want to thank our correspondents, columnists and contributors who make this newspaper special:
Thanks to Buckhorn News columnist Ethel Skipper, who has been writing her column for at least 30 years. Thanks to Wakulla Station News columnist Verna Brock, who had written a column for years for the News, had to stop because of her job, and then agreed to start again with the column for the Sun when she retired.
Thanks to Carolyn Brown Treadon who writes the Coast Guard Auxiliary column, which she took over from the late Sherrie Alverson, whom she remembers every week with the tagline: “As Sherrie would say, safe boating means no accident!”
Thanks to Marj Law and her Home on the Range gun column, which she’d written for 10 years (?) for the News before coming over to the Sun.
Thanks to Sheryl Boldt and her faith column – I don’t know how many years it’s been, but I gave her column a chance and now she’s published in newspapers all over the region. Thanks to Cheryl Cruce who started her column here almost two years ago and I’ve noticed she now has at least one other paper carrying her column.
Thanks to Lynn Artz, Sandy Tedder and David Roddenberry for the Flower of the Week. That started as a project for Joey and Jack Coetzee to earn volunteer hours and the three of them have continued the column.
Thanks to photographer Gerald Brown and correspondent Linda Ann McDonald.
And thanks to Ken Fields for the football pictures.
Happy New Year!
William Snowden is editor and publisher of The Wakulla Sun.
