Loose Leaf Notes

It’s like making a community pie from scratch every month – putting together the local newsletter that I’ve co-edited for the past 20 years. Some people email submissions; some leave them at the designated community drop off – a green plastic tub under the stairs of the Harvest Moon Food Store in town. We get hand written submissions, some from children, and some from folks who are off-the-grid. We cut and paste all that we receive using low-tech tools like scissors and glue stick, making sure not to use too much glue because invariably someone calls at the last minute to dictate a submission over the phone.

I use the word “co-edit” loosely. Usually I have help with the layout. We ask people to type their own submissions (and most do) and we don’t edit their work. We have wonderful volunteer collators who staple by hand. We don’t have a web page, just a PO Box. It costs $15 a year.

It’s an all-volunteer, homemade subscription-supported publication with a dedicated readership of nearly 200. The finished product, which includes letters, poetry, artwork, columns, and a community bulletin board, is printed up locally and averages 10 pages a month. No paid ads. No paid writers or staff. How does it happen? I’m always amazed that it does.

Occasionally someone will comment on our unpolished look and try to convince us to get serious. (Have you heard of a computer? Yes, we have a woman who updates subscriptions on one of those.) But I don’t think the Museletter will be new and improved any time soon. Why make more work for ourselves? Further inquires? Send them to: PO BOX 81, Floyd, VA, 24091.

Note: It should be Museletter Sunday (the last Sunday of the month), but I was in Asheville NC this weekend and so we postponed layout for today.