To Our Readers,
This month, we’re celebrating something very special. The birth and life of a vision created by Claudia Ansorge, when the beloved Daily Register shuttered its doors after 100 years. Enter The Two River Times the next year. Feeling the loss of the Register, the Two River area was more than welcoming to the new newspaper. They read The Asbury Park Press but it wasn’t that homey newspaper that provided the most local news. I know. I was The Press’ Red Bank Bureau Chief for years and competed against The Register and often got my head handed to me. I was an editor in Neptune when The Register closed and we hired a great deal of Register reporters and editors with glee.
Still, the Two River Times made an incredible statement from the very beginning. Why? Because it’s truly a community newspaper. Journalism attracts a lot of romantics, and believe me, this newspaper has more than its share. The staff and ownership believe deeply in highlighting the best of this wonderful area as well as furiously protecting it and reporting the news you need to know.
Journalists, and staff in sales, circulation, production and administration that work here, believe not only in the paper’s mission, but its very being. The paper is alive and a part of each one of us. Everyone who works here, whether since day one or a few months ago, is committed to The Two River area.
Two staffers here, Dawn Stout and Sue Germaine, worked at the paper in the early days and have returned. That’s the value of The Two River Times. People live in the area, raised or are raising their children here and know it inside and out. Many went to high school here. And they came back after college and never left. They care and they know this area and what matters. They belonged to the beach clubs as kids, and many still do. They fish and sail in the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers, spend days on the boardwalks and eating and shopping in Red Bank. They ride horses in Holmdel and Colts Neck. It’s that quality of life that drives them to work insanely hard each and every week to put out the best newspaper they possibly can, reflecting the essence of this community. And it’s not easy.
I am very honored to work with these fine people. There is not a person here who does not give the job 200 percent. There is not a person here that isn’t extremely talented. And the woman who began this wonderful adventure, Claudia Ansorge, should be commended for her vision. Each of its owners – Geraldo Rivera, Michael and Diane Gooch and the current owners, Domenic DiPiero III love this area and Domenic is particularly committed to reflecting what’s good about living here.
That’s the one commonality that keeps this paper so strong, vibrant and relevant. And we promise to keep getting better and better. If you like us, tell a friend. After all, it’s all about the community and communities support one another.
Happy Birthday to the Two River Times! Help us grow.
Let’s Have Coffee!
Jody Calendar
Executive Editor/Co-Publisher
editor@tworivertimes.com
