Letter from Editor

Dear Readers,

Autumn is here! It’s a hot one so far, but the leaves are falling around us, and the bright red and yellow mums and pumpkins have popped up on porches around town. I’ve narrowly escaped falling acorns several times the past few days, and it’s getting dark earlier and earlier. It’s a good time to curl up with a newspaper.

Last spring, I visited a man in Newberg, Oregon, who started a newspaper in his small town in wine country right around the same time I started The Letter. My brother, a professor in Newberg, introduced us. Of course we holed up in that hipster Oregon coffeeshop and talked for hours about all we’ve discovered along our journeys.

He gave me the idea for the community coloring book fundraiser that we launched; it will print next month. He calls his newspaper “community-supported,”which is the perfect term to give to our paper as well. All of my writers, editors, and photographers are volunteers. I’m a full-time high school teacher, and I’ve been able to hire several young professionals to help with creative design and marketing on a part time basis. Residents and schools and businesses send their news to me to print. People reach out to write about things they care about.

This October marks three years since I filed for my LLC. It has been a good and important three years, but also difficult. Each month, printing and shipping alone costs over $8,000 itself, and on top of that, there are other monthly expenses and my independent contractors to pay. Thus far, we’ve been able to survive, but it’s only because of the generosity of community members who believe in our mission and either advertise or contribute with their talents (and those amazing ones who do both!).

Scan to Donate!

If you enjoy having local news in your mailbox and at your fingertips, please consider donating to keep local journalism alive in Reston and free to all residents. My least favorite part about this job I created for myself is asking people for money, but it’s a necessary part. As we head into a season of gratitude and giving, please consider a one-time donation or setting up a monthly auto-pay, as some readers have done.

Enjoy all we have included in our October issue, and spread the word about our important mission!

Dawn Crosson

Owner/Editor