By Terri Wiebold

The Castle Pines Connection is all about “a little good news” and celebrating the inspiring stories and the amazing people and businesses in the community. We’ve been told that it’s our superpower. As publisher, I believe wholeheartedly that it is the reason we continue to be successful after 13 years of business.

And yet, we are not immune to the struggles other publications are facing – multiple postage rate increases last year, rising printing and labor costs, and the industry kryptonite – competition for the same paper pulp used in cardboard boxes (like those shopping boxes delivered to your doorstep).

Our business partners, who are the primary funding source of the newspaper, have had their fair share of challenges the past two years as well. Still, they continue to invest in us because our readers – you – loyally show your patronage. Thank you for your continued support of our business partners and advertisers.

January is traditionally our annual voluntary subscription drive. It is an opportunity for you to help us continue to give back to the community, particularly in our ability to support local nonprofit organizations and schools. In 2021, we gave more than $28,000 in value to our nonprofit community partners, and we hope to be able to continue to give in those same ways this year. We could use your help.

Rest assured, we are not going anywhere; we are solvent and will continue to deliver The Connection newspaper and E Guide to your mailboxes free of charge regardless, but with your $4/month contribution (total annual fee of $48), we can continue to give back in the meaningful ways we have in the past. Plus, your contributions let us know that what we are doing is appreciated and valued, and we thank you for joining in.

As is evidenced by our front page story this month, you are incredibly generous and have stepped up this year to help those in need (way to go Douglas County!). In light of your benevolence, we are extending the deadline for voluntary subscriptions until March 31 to give everyone time to recover from holiday shopping and philanthropic year-end giving. We will resume again in September, with the year-end goal of increasing our ability to give back by 30%.

If you are able to contribute now, great (see contribution form at the bottom of this page). If you choose to do so at a later time, wonderful; we look forward to hearing from you. If you are allocating your support elsewhere, that’s awesome, and we hope you will consider us in the future. And if you are not in a position to contribute financially, we hope that you will still join us in contributing your feedback, story ideas and support.

Did you know this about The Connection?

The original inspiration for the “a little good news” motto of The Castle Pines Connection comes from a 1980s Anne Murray song titled, A Little Good News. The song speaks to all the negativity in the world (much of which is just as relevant today as it was in the ‘80s) and the media’s focus on bad news. After stating things like, “How I want to hear the anchor man talk about a county fair, and how we cleaned up the air, how everybody learned to care …” the chorus repeats, “We sure could use a little good news today.” Those words continue to be the inspiration and guiding principle for The Castle Pines Connection, even today.

To see the original 1983 Anne Murray release of the song and video, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTJcchmKhPw. Last year, Country musician Rodney Atkins did a remake of the song with a video showing images of current day social issues, many of which are very similar to those depicted in the original video. To see the Rodney Atkins version, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruCcUzUyEhw.