By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com
Many things have changed in NW St. Johns County over the past 17 years: we have new roads, numerous new residents and a plethora of new businesses to support the population growth. But one thing has remained a constant — The CreekLine, the area’s original community newspaper, which still is delivered to every mailbox in NW St. Johns County each month.
The first issue, with a circulation of just 3,500, was delivered in January 2001. Today, The CreekLine’s reach has expanded along with the population to encompass an area from Julington Creek to the north, World Golf Village to the south, and everything in between. The current circulation is more than 27,000 issues per month, by far the most of any newspaper in the area.
The CreekLine has stayed the course through economic upswings and downturns, staying true to its mission to bring the good news of NW St. Johns County to its readers — while also supporting local businesses by giving them an affordable advertising forum to reach local residents. It is through this advertising revenue that you receive The CreekLine, free of charge, in your mailbox each and every month.
Many advertisers, like Doug Nunnery of The UPS Store, Terri Kinder of Affordable Water, Dr. Richard Oglesby of Greenbriar Animal Hospital and Dr. Tom Lahmann of Julington Creek Chiropractic have supported The CreekLine since its inception. They do so because they see return on their advertising investment since readers see their ads and patronize their businesses. Supporting local business is widely believed to be the best way to keep a healthy and vibrant local economy.
“I have been advertising in The CreekLine since its humble beginnings as a small community newspaper. As in my own business, the team at The CreekLine endeavors to build relationships and take care of people. I have always felt our two organizations are very much alike: small business oriented, community-minded, local,” said Nunnery. “I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve had a customer come into our store and say they saw our ad or read my contributed article in The CreekLine. That tells me something. Honestly, I would feel I was somehow missing out or had lost my connection with my community if I failed to run an ad in The CreekLine.”
Going forward, everyone at The CreekLine remains committed to continuing the core mission by publishing interesting articles about people and events in the community. While The CreekLine was the first in the Florida NewsLine family of newspapers, it is not the last — sister publications Mandarin NewsLine, Southside NewsLine and Ponte Vedra NewsLine round out the company’s monthly repertoire, offering advertisers the opportunity to reach most of southern Duval County and all of northern St. Johns County.
We appreciate everyone who has sent in articles and photos for publication as well as those who have alerted us to newsworthy events over the years. We are grateful for advertisers who have supported our mission, while we support theirs. And we are thankful to all our readers, for whom we publish the paper each month. We look forward to the next 18 years!
Photo courtesy Florida NewsLine
Creative director Julie Gerona, marketing rep. Heather Seay, editor Martie Thompson, office manager Emily Whitehead and original marketing rep. Linda Gay with the very first issue of The CreekLine.
