Throughout the years my family and I and our staff have enjoyed a one of a kind experience; publishing, printing, and mailing out to the community a small home town newspaper! It's been quite a ride! But the time has come for us to move into a new chapter of our lives and so you have in your hands, the final issue of the Home Town Clipper. While this chapter in our lives is ending, I would like to share how it all began...

The Home Town Clipper as you know it today began (and some of you remember this well!) as a marketing flyer for my business, Home Town Services, a residential and carpet cleaning business. It was a small flyer for a small community! Hand delivered to 400 doorsteps by our friend and DuPont resident, Clyde Miller, it featured my company and three other businesses advertising on a one page flyer. As DuPont started growing in leaps and bounds, so did the Clipper! In 2005 we started adding some editorial content to what had become the DuPont Clipper, a newsletter type publication of 4-6 pages. In 2006, we started publishing the Home Town Clipper in newspaper format.

From the first edition printed on newsprint and up till today, the paper provided some great reporting on our community and some of the best journalism you will find in a small paper. It was not unusual for the News Tribune to contact us about our stories and photos. The Clipper editors, writers, designers, marketing and layout team members, rival that of any community paper.

As DuPont was growing the paper influenced and informed the residents. It gained credibility as a good source of community information. It recognized our neighbors, our schools, our students and our local government. Many proud parents still have the edition that boasted their child's photograph or accomplishment!

It has been a source of information about and for DuPont and Steilacoom's military population. When a soldier fell, the Clipper was there to share the pain and pride for our soldiers. The Clipper supported the War Memorial in Ross Plaza and the "Make a Soldier Smile" program among many others.

We always provided a platform for all to share opposing opinions. The Clipper covered many aspects of local government, including a recap of council and town meetings, the mayor and city council, and various city departments. In doing so, The Clipper provided a level of information that did not exist previously, and was very much appreciated and acknowledged by the community, although certainly not by all. If everyone liked what was reported on, we wouldn't have been doing a good job!

Over the years in each issue we wrote about and featured the businesses and business owners who made our paper possible. Their advertising dollars allowed us to publish our paper and distribute it to Steilacoom, JBLM, Anderson Island and DuPont. Please continue to support all the local businesses!

We've had a real blast publishing this paper. The relationships we have built, the home town environment we participated in, and all the recognition we received from you, the community, our neighbors, schools, businesses and friends and family have been wonderful. And now, due to personal reasons and health issues in my family, it's time to say good bye. Thank you!

Respectfully,

Rick Beaver, Publisher
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing"
-Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

Rick Beaver continues to own and operate Home Town Services providing residential and carpet cleaning services, doing business in DuPont, Steilacoom, Lacey, and Lakewood. He resides in DuPont with his wife and daughter. He can be reached through his company website: www.hometowncarpetservices.com or www.hometownhousekeeping.com.