Notice something a little different about this week’s edition of The Clarkston News? Does the paper seem a little heavier this week, or a little thicker?
Well, it is.
This week’s Clarkston News contains our ‘Special Anniversary Issue? commemorating our 75 years of providing the Clarkston community with local news, features and faces.
The 64-page special section contains a little bit about The Clarkston News and our history, several articles on the history of Clarkston and plenty of great ‘old? photos.
Readers can enjoy learning the history of Clarkston schools, commerce through the eyes of several prominent business owners, sports from Clarkston’s own Mel Vaara and the top headlines of the past 75 years. Several longtime area residents remembered some of their favorite stories and a few old friends returned to add their own special touch.
The staff of The Clarkston News spent around eight months putting this issue together. The news staff began collecting unique feature stories in October 2004. This past March, the staff began gathering, coordinating and writing the ‘hard fact? historical articles.
Municipal reporter Don Schelske tackled one of the more difficult (and one of our favorite) pieces of the section: ‘Styles change, but local focus remains constant,? an article of the top headlines of the past 75 years. The piece is accompanied by a collage of some of our best cover pages.
Education reporter Christina Ulaj worked with Clarkston Schools Director of Marketing and Communications Anita Banach to coordinate ‘Clarkston Schools and their History.? Remember fluoride treatments? Well, we have a photo of Brian Bates receiving his in the 1970s.
Sports reporter Noah Purcell and myself took on a task that required ingenuity, creativity and determination ? getting everyone who creates The Clarkston News each week to stand still for pictures and surveys. The second section of ‘The Special Anniversary Edition? walks everyone through the stages of putting together Clarkston’s own community newspaper.
Top all this with some surprises sprinkled throughout, including a great ‘old time? picture page to accompany Mr. Vaara’s history of sports, and some great advertising from our local businesses, and The Clarkston News? Special Anniversary Edition becomes a must have collector’s item.
To conclude our celebration of this historic event, The Clarkston News is hosting an Open House this Saturday (May 21) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Come and enjoy free hot dogs, cookies and lemonade. There will be fun activities for the kids such as a create your own pressman’s hat and be on your own personalized front page.
Stop in to tour the office, meet the staff and enjoy plenty of surprises. Oh, and while you’re here, make sure to pick up your own collector’s copy of The Clarkston News? ‘Special Anniversary Edition.?