200 Years of Chicken Soup and Apple Pie

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Well…in this age of the internet and all other things pervasively digital, that popular old saw may have lost a bit of its relevance. Things are changing faster these days than many of us can comprehend, and often in ways that seem to render our day-to-day lives different forever. Perhaps no where is this more prevalent than in the media — social media and otherwise — and the ways in which we communicate and interact with one another, consume news and learn about the world around us.

Thanks goodness for hometown community newspapers!

Yes, we’ve changed in recent years too…but not all that much, really, over the past century. (Or, in the case of the Susquehanna County Independent, over a whopping two centuries.) Much like Justin Clark and his upstart Centinel newspaper in 1816, we carry on today largely as black ink on white paper. In towns like Montrose, New Milford, Kingsley, Clifford or Susquehanna, we continue to give you a sizable slice of small-town life each and every week. From the goings-on inside village hall or news about your local school district, police department or the natural gas industry. And just as important, about apple pie and ice cream socials at the United Methodist Church or Little League baseball at Post Pond Field.

“We,” by the way, are the Sample News Group and Towanda Printing Company — new owners of the Independent and Weekender since this past October when we purchased these and a handful of other local newspapers from Times-Shamrock Communications. We are a privately held media company publishing nearly 50 community newspaper titles from more than 20 small towns across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with owners who reside in Huntingdon and nearby Sayre. But more than anything else, “we” are Staci Wilson, Vicki Wooden, Rebecca Cross, Heidi Sisson and others from around your county who tirelessly make sure our newspaper makes its way into your home, mailbox or favorite diner every week.

And this year, as the Independent in all its prior forms marks an amazing 200 years in business, we also offer a broad salute to all the people over these many years who have filled and printed its pages and delivered a hometown newspaper in and around Susquehanna County. From that upstart Centinel in 1816 to the Montrose Publishing Company in the latter part of the last century and, until recently, the good people at Times-Shamrock.

Now, at this juncture in the reporting and recording of history in Susquehanna County, we are honored to carry the mantle. It is our intent to do so proudly for a long time to come, providing the kind of all-local, hometown news that you simply cannot and will not find anywhere else.

When we get it right, these assembled pages of newsprint and ink — in an odd sort of way — should be somewhat akin to a cup of homemade chili or chicken soup in February: a small dose of comfort in your week. Or maybe a clipping beneath a magnet on your refrigerator.

For Staci, Vicki, Rebecca and Heidi…and on behalf of all the dedicated newspaper folk before them who have been a part of this 200-year-old story, we thank you for your patronage — past, present and future.

—Kelly Luvison, President
Sample News Group