Editorial | It’s been fun, 2021
A look back on Green Bay City Page’s first year in print
Dumpster fire part two. The beginning of the end. Not good, but not as bad as the last one.
There are a lot of ways to describe the year that was 2021.
In some ways, this year felt worse than the global upheaval that was 2020. You would think we would have made progress in the next year, but here we are, still fighting off COVID-19 variants, and attempting to quell misinformation at every corner.
Depsite all the bad, I’ll remember 2021 as the first brick in a promising future.
Green Bay City Pages launched on Sept. 30 of this year. Since then, we’ve published 14 issues.
I had an idea of what to expect when we would launch the only arts and entertainment weekly in the greater Green Bay area, but the response has blown me away each time. The first time this all really clicked for me was when I walked into WhiteDog Cafe (201 S Broadway) and saw one of our racks inside. I didn’t even know it would be there!
Fun fact about our distribution racks, those were purchased from the nice folks at Milwaukee’s long-standing alt-weekly (now monthly) Shepherd Express and when they arrived at our office, the racks had previous branding from the Wisconsin Gazette on them, a former, free Milwaukee alt-weekly that focused on LGBTQ issues, culture and art from 2009 to 2018. Now Green Bay City Pages are placed on them weekly and I couldn’t be prouder to carry the torch of Wisconsin alt-weeklies here in Green Bay. (If you want a rack inside of your business or organization, contact our sales executive Erin DeMay at [email protected].)
People have written me saying they have wanted something like this paper for a long time or they’re learning about all the things they’ve missed out on over the years.
We’ve had people offer up ideas for stories, columns, deep-dives and more. Some of them you’ve seen already, but so much more is yet to come. (As always feel free to email ideas, comments, feedback and more to me at [email protected] or connect with us online at www.citypagesgreenbay.com/connect)
This year, I have tried my best to look inward and be more grateful and present. The news and publishing industry is fast-paced. Pushing out a weekly paper adds to this stress, but when I take a step out of it all, I am insanely grateful for everything and everyone that has helped us and myself get to where we are at the end of the year.
To my wife and best friend: thank you for keeping me grounded, dealing with late nights and calling me on my baloney. I love you.
The same goes for my son, you are a reminder of the good ahead in this world. Love you goober.
I am grateful for every single one of our contributors and illustrators. Without their words and art, this paper would truly not exist. Thanks to the following:
Todd M. Coe
Jim Cryns
Eliza Cussen
Matthew Day
Kira Doman
Eric Drzewiecki
Josh Hadley
Xav Horkman
Erin Hunsader
Josh Koerner
E.J. Miller Larson
Danny Lemke
Freddy Moyano
Carolyn Paplham
Jacob Phelps
Abra Rene
Rev. Norb
Christina Thor
Tara Yang
There are numerous people to thank for this past year and I will try my best to do so. If you believe you should have been mentioned, you’re right, you should have. Thank YOU specifically. Pat yourself on the back.
I’m super thankful for Rachel Sankey, our arts and entertainment reporter who not only gets our Big Guide and Highlights section ready for you each week, she’s also out there interviewing artists and reporting on food, culture, music and more this area has to offer.
An additional shout out to Erin DeMay, who is our sales executive. Advertisements pay the bills and she’s a dogged salesperson making sure we keep the lights on and presses rolling. Thanks as well to all the businesses who have ponied up and advertised with us, you help us keep going.
In that same fashion, I’m entirely certain that our office would not function without Casie Mallien. She’s our sales and administrative support go-to, who makes sure processes are running smoothly and knows when to yell at us when they are not.
Right across the way is The Press Times editor Heather Graves and reporter Josh Staloch, who have both become a vital soundboard for ideas, feedback, photos and bad jokes.
If you like the way this paper looks and flows, just like I do, we all owe a big round of gratitude to our senior graphic designer Sue Schroeder. She has to deal with my finicky nonsense on a weekly basis and she does a great job making this paper pop off the page.
Much gratitude to our general manager Mike Hollihan and publisher Pat Wood for embarking on this endeavor with open minds all around.
And last but not least, thanks is owed to each and every person that picked up this paper, shared it with your friends and family, and gained something from our words.
Since our first issue, we’ve printed a rough approximation of 105,000 words this year. That’s almost one word per person who lives in Green Bay. I hope you found something you liked along the way.
We have some big things planned for 2022 and I wish I could to tell you what those are, but you’ll just have to stick around and keep reading.
Thanks for picking us up and have a happy New Year! – John McCracken, editor
P.S.: Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with our issues and follow us online at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
John McCracken is the editor of Green Bay City Pages. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @jmcjmc451.