Valley Patriot Editorial
March, 2014 – As we celebrate our tenth anniversary, we are happy to announce some exciting additions to our Valley Patriot lineup, starting with former Eagle Tribune publisher Al Getler.
Yes, that’s what we said … Al Getler.
Given that publisher Tom Duggan has been somewhat abrasive in his criticism of Getler’s reign at the Tribune over the years, we were pretty convinced that the captain of our ship had lost his marbles when he said he wanted to try and convince Getler to join The Valley Patriot family.
So you can imagine how stunned we were when he reported back months later that Getler had agreed to write a column in the pages of this newspaper.
The possibilities that arise from Getler’s addition to our vast network are endless. We find it encouraging for our next ten years that Duggan and Getler have put aside past differences and came to an agreement for the benefit of our readers. The fact is, both men care deeply about free speech, a free press, open access to government, and most importantly, giving you unique news and views about the issues that shape our culture.
We welcome Mr. Getler with open arms to write whatever he wants, about whomever he wants, without restriction. Al Getler’s fist column is on page 7 of this edition.
The mission of this newspaper is and has always been to allow OTHERS access to a vehicle to freely express their views the way they see fit, whether they be friend or foe … or even former foe. The very nature of what we do here is to encourage dissent and a free flow of ideas, so that our readers can decide what to believe, rather than us telling you what to believe by excluding certain views.
We are looking forward to Mr. Getler wielding his pen with absolute freedom and letting the chips fall where they may, even if they land on us. We are also looking forward to him bringing his ventriloquist dummies to our Tenth Anniversary BASH on March 21st to entertain the crowd and skewer the locals however he sees fit.
Another new addition to The Valley Patriot family is none other than world-famous hypnotist Jerry Valley who starts his “Mind Over Matter” column (page 42) this month. We believe a man of his stature and reputation will be a valuable asset to our already stacked lineup of talent.
We were introduced to Mr. Valley last month as he met with “Heal Lawrence,” a volunteer group that helps fire victims in Lawrence get back on their feet. Mr. Valley is doing a benefit for Heal Lawrence on April 7th at the Lawrence Firefighters Relief In.
Our third addition to the lineup this month is North Andover’s Dr. Frank MacMillan, member of the North Andover Board of Health, a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology who also serves as it’s Massachusetts Governor.
He is also the Vice President of the Massachusetts Gastroenterology Association. (See Column on page 39 of the print edition). Dr. MacMillan is also a very talented writer and as a doctor has a unique perspective on issues like Obamacare and what patients have to deal with when diagnosed with an illness. Dr. MacMillan is a huge edition to our medial line up with Dr. Rami Rustim and Dr. Jin Sung already informing our readers of health related issues.
And last but certainly not least is Lowell’s own John Macdonald of Big Decisions LLC. Macdonald is the former Vice President of Lupoli Properties, a former candidate for Lowell City Council and co-hosts JMack and the Bear on 980WCAP radio.
John will be filing a huge gap in our lineup as we have been seeking Lowell writers for a while now and we couldn’t think of any better to fill that gap than a guy as smart and politically networked as John!
Thank you to Jerry Valley, Al Getler, John Macdonald and Dr. MacMillan for being brave enough to join our team. Thank you to all of our contributors, readers, advertisers, volunteers, and confidential sources over the last ten years for your undying loyalty and support that helped us grow this little startup newspaper from delivering to four communities in 2004, to the 42 cities and towns we distribute to this month.
We couldn’t have done it without you. Onward and UPWARD!