Happy birthday to us!

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In the Aug. 5, 2005 edition of the Marathon Weekly, I repeatedly referred to the new Marathon High School principal as “Principle John Pertner.” While not as egregious mistake as allowing Luis Gonzalez’s son be labeled as Homecoming Queen on the cover of the paper, the mistake was nonetheless excruciatingly painful.

The “Pertner” foible was notable for three reasons: a story about an educator should — by nature — be grammatically correct; it was one of the first stories I penned as a staff writer for the Weekly; and, prior to relocating to the Keys, Pertner was one of my mother’s graduate level instructors at Bowling Green State University.

As we celebrate the Weekly’s 10th birthday I find myself grinning at the evolution of this paper.

From office space in the two-bedroom apartment attached to John Bartus’ commercial property, to three editions covering the Keys to the Boot Key Harbor Cruisers Guide, our publication has done more than simply supply our community with news it can use.

We help.

That is our job and we are happy to do it.

A couple weeks ago we assisted in raising more than $7,000 for Kreative Kids by producing the Best of Marathon event with the Rotary Club. We have donated our time, resources and most importantly the space in our 30-pound newsprint pages because this community needs “partners.”

John Bartus, Ed and Loretta Frost established this company on a few simple principles that we will always uphold. 1) Say “yes.” Everyone’s story is important. 2) To treat our advertisers like business partners … because they are. 3) Have fun.

This is not Miami and Pulitzer’s are not won inciting scandal. We take pride in covering the positive achievements and people who have made this town a great place to live, work and raise a family. We hope our appreciation for our readers and business partners shines through every week.

 

Sept. 14, 2003

This is the very first issue of The Weekly Newspaper. It featured the Dolphin Research Center. Inside the 40 pages were stories about the Turtle Hospital opening to the public, a food review by Rita Rose and a sports review by Stan Haines. Oh, and the soap opera synopsis … remember those?

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Jason Koler, born in Florida and raised in Ohio, is the “better looking and way smarter” Keys Weekly publisher. When not chasing his children or rubbing his wife’s feet, he enjoys folding laundry and performing experimental live publishing.