Sixteen Years and Counting

As a careful and devoted reader of SNJ Today, you surely noticed the announcement in the December 20 issue that the newspaper has changed hands in its acquisition by Newspaper Media Group (NMG). Okay, it’s possible you missed it with the holidays and all of the end-of-year activities on your plate. So let me bring you up to date.

Last week, we published our first edition under the NMG banner, and you might have noticed some subtle changes or additions throughout that issue of the paper. Little changes here and there, yes, but as editor, I can assure you that our commitment to Cumberland County happenings and its people will not change. We will still be telling people’s stories and reporting on all the good things occurring with the community and its residents. Just take a look at the feature “Paying It Forward”. Likewise, on other pages of this newspaper.

Toward that end, our core staff of Sales Rep Pam Morris, Graphic Designer Clarissa Toney, and I are still on board and will continue the legacy of this newspaper into the future.

Our writers—Mickey Brandt, Jane Morton Galetto, Stephanie Farrell, Lorinda Jarvis, Bill Sokolic, Patricia Martinelli, and others—will continue to provide the excellent stories and coverage we’ve all come to enjoy, week after week.

Cumberland County, this is YOUR newspaper and I invite you to contribute. Here are a couple of ways to do just that:

• Does your organization have a fundraiser or other event coming up? To submit an event for Community Calendar, visit snjtoday.com/yourevent (We need to receive it at least two weeks ahead of the event.)

• Do you have a birthday or anniversary you’d like to announce? Would your business like to let the community know about a newly hired or promoted employee? To submit a photo and copy for Faces in the News or a news release, visit snjtoday.com/news-story-submissions

A Newspaper’s History

SNJ Today newspaper had its debut as The Grapevine, with its first issue printed on February 13, 2008. Many of you will recall when Mike Epifanio started the weekly paper here in his hometown out of an office next to Maria’s Hair Salon at Lincoln and Landis avenues.

In July 2015, The Grapevine was acquired by the media company SNJ Today, based out of offices on Wheaton Avenue in Millville. A couple of years later, the paper’s name was changed to match the company’s brand.

When I started as managing editor a week before Mike and I put out the first issue of The Grapevine, I could not have imagined what this adventure would lead to, some 16 years later. I have many to thank for opportunities I’ve had over the years getting to know the Cumberland County community and its residents—and I look forward to many more.

If you were ever a staff member at The Grapevine, you were destined to become known as “one of the Grapes.” There are many of us around—you know who you are, because as we say, “once a Grape, always a Grape!”—but just two of us are left here on staff, in addition to two of our writers.