I love being the editor for Mount Olive Life. That said, the March 2021 issue was the hardest issue I've ever worked on!
In March of 2021, Mount Olive Township officially turned 150 years old. To commemorate the celebration, the publishers and I put together a special issue of Mount Olive Life newspaper that was filled with story after story.
It isn't like the issue caught me by surprise because we had been talking about putting it together since I started in 2018. I think what shocked me was the sheer amount of stories that we found while in the research phase. With so much to cover and a small staff of writers, how was this going to go?
I don't think I have ever worked so hard in my entire life. The entire issue took up over 100+ pages. We tracked down hundreds of interview sources and covered anything and everything relating to the 150 year history. Spotlighting businesses that have been in town for a long time? Yup. Interviews with all elected officials at the time of the 150th celebration? Yep, that too. Talking with talented people who are now huge stars that come from the small Morris County town? Cross that one off the list too.
March 2021 Mount Olive Life Cover
Just piecing together an issue like that can be hard. You want to make sure you don't leave any stone unturned. The editorial team and I had a huge brainstorming session about a year out from the issues debut. We wrote down ideas about people, places, and things in Mount Olive that would be fun to write about.
As the year prior progressed, we tried to track down as many local historians as possible. We needed content from all the 150 years that had passed. Boy did we learn quickly as to how big this undertaking was going to be. From historical major weather events that happened in town in the 1970s to profiling an Olympian, we had our work cut out for us.
Not wanting to leave anyone out, we also reached out to the local Kiwanis Club, Lions Club, and Knights of Columbus Club. We tried to spotlight all the members of the Board of Education or reach out to all the departments in town hall. It was crazy trying to tackle this with a writing staff of 5.
As I looked at how many articles were based on the school system, I came to the realization that maybe reaching out to the high school newspaper staff wouldn't be a bad idea. It would be a great way for the staff of the high school newspaper to gain real world experience but it would also help us track down important people and we could cover more ground.
The article I wrote on Olympian, Keturah Orji, for the 150th Anniversary issue of Mount Olive Life
The advisors to the newspaper club were ecstatic that we wanted to get the kids involved in the local newspaper. I met with the editors of the paper and explained what we wanted to do and they all jumped in right away. Plus, with their help, it aided in relieving some of the pressure that was placed on my staff writers.
As articles started to flow in for editing, I couldn't believe the level of information we were able to find in relation to history. We really did end up covering every single thing that we could. Although the work was tedious with editing multiple stories each day, it was a huge accomplishment once everything was turned in to production.
Since I don't live close to the area anymore, I had to request one of the copies to be mailed to me. When I actually saw it in print, I was amazed. All the hard work had paid off and the special edition looked incredible. We truly honored Mount Olive on her 150th birthday and we did it so well.
Happy 150th Birthday Mount Olive!
Signing off,
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