Our area is the epitome of a plethora of hometowns. Whether Chesapeake, Suffolk, Portsmouth, or Moyock, we are so fortunate to live in a hometown as opposed to a metropolis.
There are times in our lives – when we go off to college, for instance—when we are thrilled to find ourselves in a big city. I went from a small New England historic town to Washington, D.C. at the age of 17 to attend George Washington University. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Life asks for different surroundings when we are first on our own, when we have children, and when our life circumstances change. There is something soothing about hometowns where we know our neighbors, and they know us. I can still picture my grandparents’ home on America Street, where everyone on their street knew everyone else—through three generations.
The first generation experienced two World Wars and depended on newspapers and radio to keep them as informed as that technology could provide. Movies came with the second generation. And TV with the third generation fixated on Howdy Doody.

When we started The Shopper in 1981, newspapers and magazines had been popular long before there were home computers, let alone Facebook. But after the turn of the millennium and the crash of 2008, people started to question if print would go away.

Radio stayed after TV arrived, as did Movies. Why not print? I have often wondered why anyone thinks everything treasured will disappear when something new comes along?
I now believe that our Shopper has become more popular than ever. Why? I believe the pandemic is part of the answer.

It is familiar, and it is Hometown. Have we ever needed the comfort of our families and neighbors more than when so much became uncertain?  It comforts us. There is no bad news in our 40-year-old hometown magazine. That’s for newspapers to tolerate.

We write business neighbors’, doctors’, builders’, charities’, etc., stories: people we want you to know and who want you to know them and what they can do for you. It is a privilege for us as well. It is in writing these stories over the years that I, and our writers, have come to know the people and businesses we bring to your mailboxes. In fact, when doing Lindsey Riddle Elliott’s story for this issue, I decided I wanted to get back to writing more stories again. While I have considered Lindsey a friend for years, I learned even more about her while writing her story.

I love my work, especially when I do a story. How lucky is that! I thank my wonderful team who do the heavy lifting while I get to make new friends. And because we are busy, we are ready to hire writers, a salesperson, a web designer, and a part-time graphic designer. Our readers who look forward to The Shopper and Doctor to Doctor Magazine may have noticed both old and new clients appearing. What you may not know is that most of our clients call us. It is an honor I never forget.

I believe our commitment to Hometowns sustains us all.