To all our readers, we offer the following Christmas poem in the spirit of ”Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ penned by Judi. Merry Christmas to all and thanks to those who supported us in 2024.
‘Twas the night before deadline in a silent house
Two creatures were stirring, you could hear a computer mouse
The ads were noted on the ad list with care
waiting for Judi to place them, only she would know where
The children on their phones, were sitting on their beds
Oblivious to all we do to keep them fed
Joe at his desk was busily writing
While Judi was editing and proofreading mightily
When inside the house, there arose such a clatter
The phone was ringing. What was the matter?
They dived for the phone, wary of waking the rest
Only to discover that things were a mess
The printing press was being temperamental, dare they say it was broke?
The pressures were mounting, but Joe and Judi did not choke
Back to their computers, their fingers did fly,
As they kept their eyes focused on their deadline
On story ledes. On paragraphs. On grammar and punctuation
On cutlines. On headlines. And space allocation
Page after page, they labored and pushed on
Determined to finish NEWS On the Green before dawn
They worked as a team – great news was their goal
Designing ads, placing photos, and filling the news hole
When what to their wondering eyes did appear
The next NEWS On the Green was starting to become clear!
Page after page, they designed, edited and printed
And little by little, the next edition was minted.
PDFs were created and sent to the press
Which luckily for all was no longer a mess.
Gears were sent spinning, paper rolled and ink applied
2,500 copies off the presses did fly.
On the truck they were piled, in bundles of 50,
Bound by yellow straps – it’s all pretty nifty
The driver dropped them at our usual pickup spot
And Joe loaded our SUV – right on the dot
With the first deadline met, the next one loomed
Joe had to get the papers delivered – soon, very soon
With six cylinders ahead of him – our car is front drive
He dashed around the township — five miles times five
To subscribers and distributors, he made his rounds
Until the last paper was released from its bounds
He arrived home to Judi, who was busy sending
e-copies to those who prefer online vending
She also prepared labels for those papers we post
via Postal Service, which we rely on the most
With newspapers prepared, printed, delivered and posted
Joe and Judi “high-fived,” raised their glasses and toasted
Another edition had been “put to bed.” Yes, it was done!
Another NEWS On the Green is out there! Gee, that was fun!
Be merry! Subscribe to NEWS On the Green!
