Guest post by Jen MacMillen, Publisher
The main question we must continue to ask ourselves is, “Why are we here doing what we do?”
When we boil it down to a common essence, one could argue that it’s to engage in positive community. Vital Communities clearly plays a significant role in building positive community by unifying the Upper Valley and finding the common core issues that, if addressed and improved upon, will benefit the greater good. Village Green Publishing strives to provide a similar service by using the printed page.
For the most part, everyone belongs to at least one community and oftentimes is a member of many sub-communities. We take our kids to school; we volunteer at the library; we shop at our local merchants. Each of these interactions creates opportunities for community building, and so it goes: what goes around comes around. We all live, work, play, raise families, and help our neighbors, often in a subconscious need to foster positive community. It’s built into our genes. To be social is a survival mechanism. In these modern times, we have the luxury of engaging in positive community for the sheer fact that it feels good to be a good citizen!
Village Green Publishing provides a vehicle for local stories to inspire positive community. The Quechee Times, the Norwich Times, and the Lebanon Times are print publications that mail directly to every address in their respective communities—free of charge. The philosophy behind this method of distribution is that in order to truly serve a community and inspire readers to engage in positive, community-building efforts, our publications must reach every single household—not just those who can or wish to pay for it.
And, for the business members of our communities, these papers serve as a mutually beneficial medium of exchange. Our local merchants and business owners have well-read vehicles in which to share their messages with community members, and, with the money they pay for their space, we are able to produce a top-quality publication and get it in the hands of those loyal community members.
Again, what goes around, comes around.
As a Local First Alliance member and a strong believer in supporting the local economy, Village Green Publishing is doing its part to keep the upward spiral of positive momentum going by creating publications which feature only the “good people, good places, and good things happening” in each of the communities served. By focusing on the positive rather than the sensationalist, doom-and-gloom messages of mainstream media, readers are able to feel good about where they live and with whom they do business, since most likely it’s with a neighbor they just read about in the last edition!
Vital Communities’ name alone points to the importance of creating a strong, healthy, positive community for the well-being of its entire citizen body. Village Green Publishing has the privilege of telling the stories of how these community efforts take shape.