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Published on 12/22/1997 All articles from this issue

The art of giving and receiving

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By Bruce Barton

Editor's Notebook

The sound of those bells on Main Street in Los Altos offers a ringing reminder: this is the season of giving.

The gifts we offer at the Town Crier are not so obvious as beautifully wrapped presents under a tree. But the changes we've made in the past year made for an improved newspaper package that, we think, serves our readers better than ever.

This year has been a special one for us here at the paper. Our 50th year in operation, we have enjoyed continuous improvement and growth in all our departments. Editorially, we've made subtle changes in our layout that have resulted in a cleaner look for the reader. The addition of three new writers on staff, Pete Borello, Linda Taaffe and Carol Tiegs, have led to better writing, reporting and coverage. We expanded our business section to include technology-related issues, and the Town Crier Stock Index was amended to make it more readable.

Photo reproduction has also improved dramatically, as have our special sections - notably Your Health and Your Home.

The Town Crier has sponsored several events this year. Examples include the rousing 1947 Hit Parade concert held in October in conjunction with our 50th anniversary this year and three Saturday town hall meetings featuring Congressman Tom Campbell, State Senator Byron Sher and Assemblyman Ted Lempert.

We offered readers a four-part series in October and November on the 1992 kidnapping of Adobe Systems president and Los Altos resident Chuck Geschke. Based on reader response, the series, a groundbreaking move for us, was much appreciated.

The Town Crier introduced a directory of nonprofit groups two weeks ago so that interested readers could get in touch with them.

We've also given online, with current and back issues of the paper available via our Los Altos Online home page (www.losaltosonline.com).

Even classified advertising is available online, and some have been quick to take advantage. One week, I received a call from a woman who complained about classified not yet coming online. When I suggested she access an actual paper, she replied, "But that costs 50 cents." I opined that in a day and age in which virtually everything is expensive, newspapers remain a bargain. She hung up.

We've given a lot, but we've also benefited by ad revenues and reader subscriptions. We're running our list of paid subscribers this week (see page 20) as another way of saying thank you for supporting the paper.

My favorite act of giving is to offer exposure to people in our community who give. Check out this week's featured story on our "Angels in Los Altos," including one anonymous donor who gave $500,000 to Foothills Congregational Church. Look up last week's cover story on Bob and Marion Grimm, who have given this community money, expertise, labor and love for 35 years.

I'm proud of the paper's accomplishments in 1997 and I look forward to giving more in '98 - in the form of an even better editorial product. We're all familiar with the old proverb, "It is better to give than to receive." I buy that. But when you give, you receive something - inner satisfaction at least, perhaps a thank you or even a box of chocolates!

May your giving and receiving be plentiful, as it has been for us in 1997. Happy holidays.