If the Signal Tribune were a person, the day before yesterday would have been a milestone birthday allowing us to finally get the driver’s license we have waited for our whole lives.
Sixteen years ago, February 24, 2000, Steve and I published our first issue of the Signal. For those who don’t know the history of our paper, I offer the following:
Two years before we started our paper, the former publisher/owner, Tom Allen, for various reasons, closed the doors on his publication.
He had run the paper for eight years. For the last four years of its existence, I worked diligently as the paper’s full-time advertising sales representative.
Besides sales, I also did a bit of photography for the paper and eventually ended up with my own column called “So What’s New?”
During those four years, I built relationships that I held, and still hold, dear to my heart. Some of those folks still advertise with us: Bixby Knolls Detail Center and Car Wash, Big E Pizza, Donato’s Hair Salon, Bartlett Roofing, Buono’s Pizza and Pete’s Plumbing.
I apologize to any business owners I may have failed to mention.
After Tom closed his paper, my career then took me to the Press-Telegram, where I sold ads for a little more than a year before leaving to start my own marketing company — Posh Enterprises.
Months later, the newspaper bug hit me again, and I began to investigate what it would take to resurrect the Signal. With a lot of work and a little luck, Steve and I began our venture in January of 2000.
Starting the process in the dining room of our home, with the help of an enthusiastic staff, a few weeks later we went to print and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.
To announce the resurgence of the paper, we relied on the kindness of Shell & Sheldon Grossman, owners of Bixby Knolls Detail Center and Car Wash. A week before our first issue, the Grossmans placed the message “Welcome Back Signal Newspaper” on the readerboard that is erected high above their place of business.
Our first issue featured a photo of that readerboard under the bold headline declaring, “We’re Back!”
Approximately a year later, we purchased the Signal Hill Star Tribune and legally became the Signal Tribune. Fast-forward 16 years, we are still going full steam ahead.
Steve and I are still at the helm and are proud to say that we have a great crew of regular staff members who copy-edit, sell advertising, lay out the paper and design ads. We also have some extremely talented reporters/writers who regularly contribute to the paper. I give a big thank-you to those valuable employees: Cory Bilicko, Amy Patton, Barbie Ellisen, Kathy Green, CJ Dablo, Denny Cristales, Micayla Vermeeren, Sebastian Echeverry, Heidi Nye, Vicki Paris Goodman, Shoshanah Siegel, Mark McCormick, Lindsey Maeda and Rhiannon Williams.
We couldn’t create this weekly miracle without them.
Finally, we want to thank our gracious readers and loyal advertisers. We love you. Thank you for your support.
