6. February 2010 by pat desmond.

The Milton Times is creating a local phone book.

Phil Perry, our advertising coordinator, will be handling the gathering of information. Phil is particularly suited for this task, having roots in the community and an ability to listen deeply.

Our graphics designer, William Curry, is working on developing a map of the town that will fit on the pullout flap. William is also tasked with creating the front page, which will be a glossy full color page that will have information about the contents. This year we aren’t planning to sell any ads on the cover - we need the residents to understand this book is all about their community.

Last week we sent a mailing out to all the businesses in town with information about our little telephone  book. There is interest in the book - especially from business owners who use a cell phone as their work number and from home-based businesses.

Most of the prime locations sold even before the mailing hit the streets.

But now the real work begins for me as I gather ad copy (and checks).

People ask how this is different. And I have my reply ready. First this is just Milton. Not Canton. Not Stoughton. Not tiny type like the Verizon book. Next we are printing 10,000 copies and having it delivered to the 9,800 Milton addresses. The last time the Lawrence-based telephone book company did town-wide distribution was in 2002. (But we know Indian Cliffs got a 2009 book.)

We want this book to work for the entire community.

But people keep asking me, why is the Milton Times doing this now even after I have explained there is a need for a good local phone book.

And they are right, there is another reason.  The local economy hit a plateau in 2009. Our small business needs a way to break the stranglehold of a choking economy.

Nearly 30 years ago I worked at Mariner Newspapers, which was then headquartered in Marshfield. It was a newspaper chain created by David Cutler, whose parents started the Duxbury Clipper. David ran his business on a shoestring thanks to a staff that loved what they were doing.

Whenever the economy delivered a slow season, David started a new venture. It was an amazing lesson. He sold the Mariner papers in the late 1980s to a major corporation. And they’ve been sold a few times since. David is still involved in the newspaper business, having inherited the Clipper and parlayed his own money into backing a small daily near Worcester and a few tiny weeklies in New Hampshire.

The business model I have implimented at the Milton Times is the one I learned from David. “Local, local, local,” he would say. “Some say parochial as if it were a bad word but people want local news. They want to know about their local community.”

It is a lesson any community newspaper does well to remember. Thank you, David.

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13. January 2010 by pat desmond.

The next issue is almost ready to go to the press - but interesting stories are breaking…

If I wrote about it now on this blog our competitors might catch up with us.

I’ll write about it Thursday, once the paper is on the street.

If there were a way to pay for a local news on the web, it would be great.

We  did test an online subscription model back in 2002. It was a financial failure. The good news is the print model still works on a local level. Maybe that’s because we gave up the internet experiment when it failed to pay for itself.

Right now we are testing another model. Once a week we email “With the Athletes” to a small group of people who have paid us for the email blast.  The column has long been the favorite of our print subscribers. So far the number of people who have paid for the email is relatively small. Maybe this is a 100 monkeys sort of experiment. Maybe it will catch on all at once when 100 subscribers have signed on.

I happen to think it is the wave of the future - but then I still read print newspapers on a regular basis. What do I really know about the people who think news is not worth the price of a paper.

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17. December 2009 by pat desmond.

I may have been born before half past the 20th Century but I’ve learned the language of the future.

 Not only can I be found on Twitter and Facebook but I blog about my life and work. I amaze myself.

My latest digital trick is posting to You Tube.

Click below and visit the Milton Times office for about two minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yupd4VqwBLE

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14. December 2009 by pat desmond.

This year I’ll be spending Christmas in Berlin, NH.

My daughter and her two children want to spend the day at home.

My daughter works for the Salvation Army in Berlin. She is busy delivering Christmas presents to the needy this season. By Christmas she usually is tired.

Me too. The holiday season can be grueling. Today I traveled along the Forbes Holiday House Tour, enjoying the season and thinking about how amazing the mansions look in their Christmas wrappings.

This week I have two important holiday parties. Our staff party is Friday at the home of Judy McDonough. We close the office from 1 to 2 p.m. every Friday for our weekly staff meeting. This week, we will be closed until 2:30 (or so).  I’m still trying to figure out what I can bring for the gift swap.

The other party happens Tuesday with the women of the Board Forum. We haven’t been meeting regularly this year. But last month we had dinner and there is a possibility we may be dinnering more often.

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5. December 2009 by pat desmond.

Santa Claus and the carollers will be in East Milton in a few hours. So where is the snow? Why is it raining here and snowing in Houston, TX?It is slightly more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit  with a chilling rain. How will those reindeers manage?The Milton Chamber of Commerce, the town Department of Public Works, the Kiwanis Club are all working to make the day magical. But who knows how to do a “Don’t Rain” Dance?Will people stroll the shops? Only time will tell.

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3. December 2009 by pat desmond.

The first East Milton Holiday Stroll happens from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Fliers with the list of participants will be available on the M. Joseph Manning Deck.Carollers from Milton High School will be on the Deck singing. Santa Claus is expected to arrive soon after the songs begin. Santa has been invited to come in from the cold at Abby Park where there will be pizza slices for the strollers.M. Joseph Manning will flip the lights on the Christmas tree before 4:30.Nancy Jesson, president of the Milton Chamber of Commerce, will be handing out candy canes courtesy of Gosule, Butkus & Jesson. At Grono & Christie Jewelers, Judah Maccabee will be handing out chocolate gelt.Corcoran Brokerage is serving Christmas cookies and juice.The  Fruit Center will offer a series of tastings - from wine to granola.Fitness Unlimited has hot chocolate.Belle Visage is giving polishes or emory boards.B-Boutique is giving samples.Mellie’s Hair Design will have coupons available.Kelley & Rege will be open with cookies and cider.Rumor is there may be more….

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26. November 2009 by pat desmond.

Thanksgiving is all about the good in our lives.

And, of course, we all think of days past as we live through the joy of the day.

But living in the present, we can enjoy living in minutes of gratitude and hope.

Taking time for family and friends helps me find new energy.

This is a busy time of year at the Milton Times. We always run the paper at between 30 to 40% advertising. And this season we usually have more retail advertising than in the other three seasons. It gives us more space for photos and news about the community.

Thanksgiving is the height of our advertising season - it makes it difficult to take a whole day off. Yet we do.

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2. November 2009 by pat desmond.

Last week Jerry Joyce turned 90.

There were a few parties to celebrate - one party brought out about 300 Fuller Village residents.

As I understand it the Men’s Breakfast group at the COA was one of the party sites.

I know there was a party for the family Nov. 1 at Sen. Brian Joyce’s home. During that party two of Jerry’s grandchildren who are abroad were planning to call him using Skype. (For the non-geeks, that means an internet phone call.)

I wasn’t at the family party so I can’t tell you how the phone call went.

But I was at Fuller Village Friday evening with many of Jerry’s family and friends. Harriet Rosen played the piano and everyone sang along. The whole event was a lot of fun. Every resident of Fuller received an invitation to the party.

One focal point of the party was a reading by the senator and some of his siblings that documented Jerry’s life. The massive reading was a framed resolution signed by the 40 state senators to commemorate the birthday.

Happy birthday, Jerry, and best regards.

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10. October 2009 by pat desmond.

(Onions & Roses is an opinion column that appears from time to time in The Milton Times.)

Roses to everyone who helped to make CelebrateMilton a success this year. All the advance publicity had told people the raindate would be Oct. 4. And when it rained (no, poured) Oct. 3, the organizers managed to move the event to the Cunningham/Collicot complex.

More people came than expected. And everyone enjoyed the day.

Onions to the proponents of the increased meals tax. What are you thinking? How much money will you lose in the long run if little sandwich shops, already struggling end up vacant? It took two years for the two new restaurants to clear the hurdles so they could open with liquor licenses. Now that they are up and running, somebody is trying to make the good local residents who frequent local restaurants pay more. Onions!

Roses to the staff of The Milton Times who work long and hard to create an interesting newspaper every week.

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6. October 2009 by pat desmond.

Kristie Gillooley was at CelebrateMilton this past weekend, taking dozens of photos for the Milton Times. Kristie will be doing more photos for the Times.

In her first week, she covered Bella English doing a book signing at the wonderful new Abby Park, plus the Forbes Family Day.

This past week, her second, Kristie concentrated on CelebrateMilton and the thousands of townspeople who partied all day Oct. 3 at the Cunninghan/Collicot school complex.  In the Oct. 8 issue there will be one day of Kristie’s photos. But there is much more to come.

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