Today you are reading the 25th issue of the Rockdale News. Each week, because of you, our advertising base and readership has grown. We are currently delivering the paper to 10,500 households in Rockdale County every Saturday morning, in addition to selling another 200 in local stores and racks.

Quite frankly, we have been amazed by the reception, but we shouldn’t be. The rule of thumb for a newspaper to survive in today’s world is that it should reflect the needs and wants of the community it serves. We are trying our best to follow that rule.

We are more than fortunate to have a staff who believes in this community and what this newspaper can do to serve this community.

They are already involved in Chamber activities, Rotary, Kiwanis and the School Superintendant’s advisory council. Every place our readers are doing some good, you will find our staff there too.

We have added some great community commentators, including Lisa Hetzel, David McCoy, Kysa Daniels, Curtis Aikens, Andy Brown and Julie-Lyn Macie, among others. If you talk to any one of these people, they will tell you that they believe in community as we do.

The community has told us they want community news, so we try our best to provide community news in a bright and vibrant format.

You told us you love your local sports teams. We go to press at a later time so we can bring you the results of the Friday night’s games in your Saturday morning paper.

We love the Rockdale spirit that shows through in schools in government and its people.

The people here smile and welcome you and thank you for being willing to become part of the family — a special attribute of a progressive community.

We love putting the Rockdale News together each week for you, and your reception and kindness drive us to do better.

Please contact us anytime with your ideas and thoughts. We solicit and welcome your letters. Your observations on life here in Rockdale County are important. The one letter you send might just be the one that sets in motion an action that makes our county an even better place to live.

On behalf of all of us here at your community paper, we thank you and we look forward to our continued partnership.