Like any start up business, Volume1 Edition1 had some rough edges and some bright spots. I wanted to thank everyone for the kind comments we received.  Most commented was “how do I get a copy?”.

With that in mind, I thought I would dedicate some ink to our new-to-us, Winter Park Times newspaper distribution boxes: the solution to the burning question I faced in the last week and I assure you they will be popping up like wild flowers in the coming days. Currently, they stand like soldiers, gracing my driveway much like the patchwork of green and yellow dandelions. Ok, on with it already.

A few months ago, after a couple of years of discussion, we finally pulled the trigger to start this newspaper.  In one of our first brainstorming sessions, the print and distribution conversation came to the surface.  So, after that meeting, I grabbed a bottle of wine and headed off to my less than luxurious office chair on a hunt for the perfect box, a real box with character. I knew I was going to find the coolest box ever, right?  

Well, three glasses in and still no real prospects when up pops a company that specializes in newspaper boxes.  Serious!  ImpactRacks.com.   Long story short, I met a genuine, hard working guy, John Knowles from Pennsylvania that recovers and refurbs old newspaper boxes and he guides me through the process all the way to Colorado. Best thing about John is that he likes to text.

A few hundred texts later, John shows up in Denver with a trailer full of shiny newspaper boxes, and, as we are unloading, he tells me a story of a town in Georgia that holds a prestigious golf tournament each year. He pulls out a collector edition Masters Box a guy wants to buy.  I kinda’ smile and said, “I know that town”.  For anybody keeping score, I was born in southern Alabama, but I moved to the Augusta area when I was 10 years old. Then John said my boxes came from Augusta, Georgia, as well. They held a tabloid for the tournament each year. Funny part of this story is that I spent my formidable years running around raising hell in the very town from which our newspaper boxes came. It is fitting that we chose green and yellow for our boxes, the official colors of the Masters.  We chose the colors before I ever new of their origin.

Small world connections never cease to amaze me. 

Thanks for picking up our paper.  Help us get this publication rolling.  If you have a story idea, announcement, obituary, or would like to be a regular contributor, columnist or news reporter, please send us a message or give us a call.  submit@winterparktimes.com