If you enjoyed 2011, you should love 2012 even more
By: Douglas Heizer
It’s the season to wish everyone all over the world a Happy New Year.
But you know something? 2011 wasn’t really such a bad year. In fact, we’re a little bit sorry to see it come to an end.
Things really took off at the Boca Raton Tribune during 2011. We maintained the weekly publication schedule begun late in 2010 — even through the summer when we thought we might have to go back to every-other-week circulation, like we did when we first started publishing the Tribune.
If you’ve seen the amount of advertising, it shot up in 2011 and we expect bigger and better things in 2012. In addition, 2011 was our first full year of operation for both the website and the newsprint publication. We’ve gotten a lot of good comments and the popularity of the paper – both electronic and in print – has really soared.
We are not resting on this success, though. We will continue to work as hard as ever to bring you all the news of your community. We’re happy to see more people taking part in our iReporter segment, and many people are calling to see if they can join our growing list of popular columnists. In just the past few months, we have added Boca Republican Club Chairwoman Margi Helschien and Highland Beach Mayor Bernard Featherman to our column writers.
We’ve continue to stay close to some very important events – from the OPAL awards to the Festival of the Arts BOCA; from Boca Festival Days in August through the Meet Me on the Promenade event through all the holiday activities earlier this month. Many people are calling us to express their opinions and comment on what is going in the community so we will know what to cover and what to bring to everyone’s attention.
This year, we are proud of the edition we published honoring Countess Henrietta de Hoernle on her 99th birthday. Sadly, at the end of the year, we had to say goodbye to Gloria Drummond, the founder of Boca Raton Regional Hospital, who passed away at age 81. We quickly put together a special, larger edition with stories and pictures of this lady who was so important to Boca Raton’s history. We have gotten many wonderful comments about it.
As 2011 comes to an end, there seem to be hints that the economy is getting better and that unemployment is starting to improve. We have been careful not to jump too fast at reports of potential good news. But we have been at the forefront of media that have urged people to look on the positive side and not to be pessimistic about the difficult economic times. It looks like we may have been right with our pronouncements.
The year 2012 will also be big – indeed, massive, with a Presidential Election in November. That also means that many state and federal offices will also be up for grabs. Our Congressman, Allen West, has at least two challengers, and will be put to the test in his first re-election bid. State Rep. Steve Perman will also face his first re-election effort and Maria Sachs, who moved from a former state rep to a state senator without opposition in 2010, will look to defend her seat.
Yes, 2012 may be a year of major changes. If the economy does get better, there may be many new housing starts – and many of those vacant commercial buildings all over the city will be filled with new, stronger retailers.
In anticipation of a great upcoming 366 days (it’s going to be Leap Year, you know), we wish you a very Happy New Year.
