A personal note from the publisher
Everybody who knows anything about newspapers or magazines tells me that I should have an official editorial or two on this page next to a bunch of legal stuff. But I’m running so darned late for the printer that I was worried that I would throw something together without thinking about it too hard and get into trouble. So I just thought I would tell you folks a little about me and this paper as though we were sitting at the Daily Grind over a cup of fancy coffee.
I was born in Japan but I’m not Japanese--although at 5’6”, I wouldn’t mind going back one day to buy some suits and not have to pay to get them hemmed!
My parents were stationed in Okinawa in the late sixties when I came along. In fact, the whole island was a U.S. military base. I grew up all over, living in Greece, India, Pakistan, Liberia, England, Belgium, and visiting a whole bunch of other countries. It was a lot of fun seeing the whole world when I was a kid but sad when I had to keep moving all the time, saying goodbye to all my friends over and over. When someone asks me where I’m from I have to say, “Got a minute?”
It was also a dangerous way to grow up. I saw a lot of people die and we were evacuated once, right before our house was bombed by angry Pakistanis.
But I got to see Princess Diana in person and meet a whole lot of other famous people. Mostly I learned that people all over the world--except for the loud crazies--pretty much want a house, a car, and a job so they can relax and hang out with their wife and kids or watch a good game on the weekend. They are a lot like us even if they sound different.
My dad was stationed in some pretty scary places (in a late-night conversation I’ll tell you he darn near won the Cold War single handed!) My parents retired to Stephens City, where it is pretty peaceful when a neighbor isn’t blowing up his house.
I also have the two best sisters in the world. One became a Winchester LPN (she says that stands for “lowest paid nurse”) and the other owns a Manassas strategic marketing firm, whatever the heck that means, and is up for Woman of the Year in the city.
I went to Fork Union Military Academy in the ninth grade and then moved to Front Royal in 1990 to work at R-MA where I taught computer programming and started R-MA On-Line. I have lived here ever since except for the year I moved to Manassas to work as a database programmer and write a computer game, and the time I went to Winchester to open a restaurant in the mall. (You’ll be able to read all about the restaurant if I ever finish my book, “How to Lose a Million Dollars Before You’re Forty.”)
I have liked the news since I was a kid. I worked for a year as news director at a radio station in Lynchburg and in January I started hosting the News at Noon and The Valley Today on 95.3 FM and 1450 AM here in town. It is a lot of fun except I get recognized everywhere from the ad on channel 23.
In November 2005 I started the website warrencountyreport.com since there really wasn’t an active community site for Warren County or Front Royal. In nine months it has grown to where a ton of different people look at it each day, most of them from around here.
But I figured that if I started a newspaper or magazine, more people would see it since it would be staring them in the face whenever they went into a store.
This is kind of strange since most experts say that the media is getting away from the print format and more into the Internet. I am doing the opposite, except I’m keeping the site, even though much of the stories in the paper won’t appear there in their entirety. If I do that no one will buy the paper and I won’t be able to afford to print it.
I believe that a paper will sell if the content is good, original, and local. And a little wit doesn’t hurt either. So we’ll try to deliver all that each issue.
I want to thank some folks for helping me a lot with this project.
Roger Bianchini has helped me immensely for gas money while I got my act together. This paper flat out would not have happened otherwise. Sure, he’s an old 60’s conspiracy theorist and I’m pretty conservative and we argue about everything, but that makes it fun. At least I know that if I have convinced Roger about something I’m probably on the right track.
Paula Conrow has entered our group recently and is selling ads. She has done a bang up job, especially since she didn’t even have a sample issue to show people. And she handles Roger and me pretty well.
I especially want to thank Doug Harwood, editor of The Rockbridge Advocate monthly, for being so helpful by providing me with insight from his 12 years of publishing successes and screwups. He is an inspiration to me and puts out one heck of a good paper.
Thanks to all my friends and website users who responded to my insessant pestering to check out bits and pieces of this publication as I worked out the style and substance.
Most of all, thanks to you for buying this paper and taking the time to read it. Now hurry up and put it back together neatly and stick it back in the stack so they can sell it again. Roger is bugging me for a salary!
Dan McDermott
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
Warren County Report