Dear Reader:

The autumn season comes out of the gate fast in Pelham. As I write this, our staff just finished reporting on the wonderful Toonverville Festival with a photo stream on Instagram and a story for the paper. The Picture House hosted its Picnic in the Park earlier in the month, while coming up are Pelham Together’s Digital Citizenship Month, the Pelham Civic Association Gala and the Junior League’s Halloween Party.

However, Pelham’s community newspaper must do more than write about all the amazing events in our town. We’re here to do the serious job of reporting on local government. This month, we ran stories on the new contract granted to the superintendent of schools by the board of education and the Village of Pelham’s vote to condemn parts of Julianne’s Playground—and we’ll be here when the school district seeks judicial review of that controversial decision. We’ll also be here on Nov. 5, when Pelham Manor voters will decide whether to move election day in that village.

I often remind people of the every day—yet important—work of a local newspaper. We publish obituaries without charge to families, a service many newspapers once provided but no longer do. Our letters to the editor page—the people’s page!—offers all readers the chance to have their say on issues of the day or congratulate someone in the community on an achievement. The Pelham Examiner publishes every press release put out by every nonprofit, business and government agency in town.

The Examiner is here, publishing it all for you!

This is our second fall fundraising appeal since we became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We need to reach our goal of $30,000 this year so we can ensure the Pelham Examiner will be sustainable as the Town of Pelham’s local newspaper. Your contribution will help guarantee that we can continue our mission of teaching our all-volunteer student staff how to research and write compelling stories and engage in the civic process.

Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to the Pelham Examiner. Every dollar makes a difference!

With gratitude,
Rich Zahradnik
Executive Director
The Hudson Valley Local News Lab Inc.
publisher of the Pelham Examiner