So, what should we call this thing?

Hello!

I'm Tom Hardesty, senior editor of The Portager and editor of our soon-to-launch Stow news source. (We’re still working on the name — scroll down to help us out with that!)

I have lived in Summit County most of my life. I am a graduate of Mogadore High School, the University of Akron (BA in Mass Communications), and my wife Kim and I have lived in Stow since 2000. I have been a journalist in the area for nearly 35 years, including 23 at the Record-Courier, where I served as assistant sports editor for 12 years. This area has been, and always will be, my home.

As a Stow resident, what happens here affects me the same as it does you. I have a vested interest in the people, places and events in Stow because I live it every day like you. I shop where you shop, eat where you eat and fill up my gas tank where you do (we may even have heard each other muttering at the gas pump these days).

The point is, I care about Stow on a personal level. As editor of a news source dedicated to serving you, we will cover the people, places and events that matter to everyone in this wonderful city – and beyond. Our coverage will also include Silver Lake and Munroe Falls.

For over a year, I have served as Sports Columnist at The Portager and have seen its amazing growth firsthand. In just two years since Portage County journalist Ben Wolford got this enterprise underway, The Portager has already grown to over 6,000 subscribers and over 150,000 page views a month, with those numbers climbing. I have no doubt the Stow publication will achieve the same success, because it will give its readers what The Portager offers: local news delivered to you by local writers and editors.

As a matter of fact, there are 633 others reading this email right now. More are signing up every day. Eventually we will offer paid subscriptions in order to fund our work, but we're not worrying about that just yet. And we'll always have an option that's totally free because your income should not affect your access to quality news and

From day one, you can expect:

• The latest developments happening in Stow, Munroe Falls and Silver Lake

• Coverage of council and school board meetings

• Ways to help your neighbors and get involved in events

• Feature and human interest stories

• Hard-hitting investigative pieces

• Sports and entertainment

In other words, if it happens here, we’re on it. Like The Portager, we will publish an email newsletter and a website, with a print version a distant possibility if the community supports our work.

Now, about the name of this publication. As an early member of our mailing list, you will get to decide this. We’re kicking around ideas and listening to suggestions. As a starting point, we want the name to reflect the culture and history of our communities of Stow, Munroe Falls and Silver Lake. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

We'll pick some of our favorite suggestions and share the results with you next week.

Meanwhile, let’s keep growing this list! The bigger the community, the better the conversations and the more news tips we receive.

The best way to do that is by sharing this link with everyone:

https://www.stowmunroefalls.com/subscribe

And if you have news tips, would like to work for us or wish to place ads to support our work, just reply to this email.

We at the Stow (whatever you name it) can’t wait to get started!

Tom [email protected]