Judy Peterson sent the following letter to the former owner of The Hinton News, Jack Moffet, in hopes the newspaper would reopen following a temporary closure on March.
Dear Mr. Moffett,
I grew up in Martinsburg and used to come to Roanoke as the big city for shopping. Since I will be 77 in a couple of days, that was a long time ago. I have lived in True, Summers County, W.Va. for just shy of 30 years and have been a subscriber to The Hinton News since then. I have missed reading it since it has stopped publishing because of coronavirus.
I have been a self-appointed clipping service for a number of groups that I am a part of, including the Hinton Area Foundation which now has files by year that include articles that appeared in The Hinton News.
The Hinton News has been a wonderful resource for so many things – letting the community know about when the Friends of the Library will meet, having an article about an important issue the community should know about, obituaries, sports news about local teams, ads placed to announce important events. I am looking at the March 17, 2020, issue now and am also reminded of the letters to the editor.
I remember the previous librarian said that because of a weekly column she wrote about the library, a subscriber in South Carolina made a large donation to the library. Sometimes you don’t know the influence you have until a long time later.
For years I saved all the issues, then I started going through them and gave clippings to the people I knew if they had been featured. They were very well received.
I have known Nellie for years since I would see her when she made her rounds to check on faxes in the library where I was volunteering. I just met Dawn a couple of years ago, but I am so glad I did.
All of this is to say I hope there is some way that The Hinton News could reopen. I know local journalism all over the country has been facing rough times. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Judy Peterson
Hinton
Dear Judy,
Thank you for your most thoughtful letter. It is caring and thoughtful people like you who inspired The Hinton News team and myself to bring the newspaper back to life. Whilst the pandemic has shown us our flaws as a society, it has also revealed a deep spirit that is very much alive within us all. Ultimately, through your voice and many others in Hinton, we have once again found the true sense and meaning of a “community” threaded together through your local paper. Thank you for your service over the many years, we all very much appreciate your spirit and tenacity.
Scot Refsland, Ph.D.
Publisher
Hinton News
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