EDITORIAL: Still a good idea after 40 years EDITORIAL: Still a good idea after 40 years (September 14, 2005)

More than 40 years ago three women decided that a good local newspaper would be of great service to the residents of Woodside and Portola Valley. They found financing from friends and launched the Country Almanac in September 1965.

The new weekly was designed to fill in the gaps in news coverage left by the daily papers, which mostly cared about Palo Alto and Redwood City. The first edition was only four pages, but under the guidance of editor Hedy Boissevain, publisher Betty Fry, and business manager Jean Heflin, the paper soon grew to a respectable size.

Full-page ads came from Long's grocery in Portola Valley and Roberts market of Woodside, and the paper was on its way. (Long's closed a few years ago, but Roberts' support continues today, making it the longest-running advertiser in the Almanac.)

As the years rolled on, the paper decided to add Menlo Park and Atherton to its coverage area, and moved its offices to downtown Menlo Park in 1985; it moved to the present location at 3525 Alameda de las Pulgas 10 years later. Some 17,000 households now receive the paper.

Over the years the Almanac, as it is now known, improved as it absorbed the sweeping technological changes taking place in the newspaper industry. Today's paper is composed entirely on computers, a far cry from the hand-typed copy used on Volume 1, Number 1 in 1965. The technology has made it possible to slowly redesign the paper, which now offers a fresh, crisp appearance. Pages are now sent to the press electronically, and feature more four-color printing than ever before.

In 1998, the paper went online, so now anyone can find news stories from the last seven years on our Web site (www.almanacnews.com) or through the Google search engine.

Since the beginning, the Almanac has stuck very close to the founders' original idea to keep reporting focused on local people and local issues, which is why readers and advertisers value it so highly. Reporting on kids, schools, people, local government and community organizations continues to be the paper's primary focus, just as it was back in 1965.

Over the years the Almanac developed a magazine-style format that every week offers an in-depth look at a local subject, a spotlight that often is used to explain a complex or controversial issue in the news or to profile a resident who has made a significant contribution to the community.

Today, the Almanac continues to be the only newspaper devoted entirely to Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside; it includes regular local editorials and guest opinions, and endorsements in local elections.

Almanac readers, some of the most sophisticated in the Bay Area, know they can depend on the paper to give them the news they need to stay informed about their community. That's the formula that will keep us going for another 40 years -- and more.

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