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The Editorial Team Looks Back: Creating the Voice of the Village

By Lois Heyman
Posted: 06/17/2024

Late last summer, when I heard that Sue Kujawa was stepping away from her longtime role as editor of the Pasadena Village’s newsletter, and that new editorial volunteers were being recruited, I thought: Here’s a perfect way for me to contribute to the Village community. I’ve spent my entire adult life as a writer and editor; I’ve never made a cent working in any other field, except for that summer in high school, gluing keyboards in a toy piano factory. I’ve worked for local and regional newspapers, two popular national magazines, two professional quarterlies, a national nonprofit, and now I’m working for the largest legacy newspaper chain in California, so I figured I know a thing or two about putting together a publication. But revamping a volunteer staff was something new to me entirely.

This kind of enterprise was new to Bridget Brewster as well, although her experience in fund development and communications puts team-building squarely in her wheelhouse. “I thrive on the energy that a group of creative and passionate people bring to an endeavor,” she said.

When we sat down in Executive Director Katie Brandon’s office, we decided the best thing would be to split editorial duties between us almost like a restaurant: As managing editor, Bridget would be the front of the house, using her contacts and broad knowledge of people and organizations throughout the Pasadena area to cue us in on material for our stories, the people who need to be covered — as well as finding people who can do the writing; keeping tabs on them and nurturing their work along. As copy editor, I would be back in the “kitchen,” simmering down all of the ingredients we round up and trying to make sure the end result is smooth, good-tasting but also stays true to the original recipe that came in. OK, maybe that tortures the metaphor a bit, but writers are creative people who can be sensitive when their words are tinkered with, so the main thing I strive for as an editor is that the Voice of the Village truly reflects our Villagers’ authentic voices.

Once we found ourselves working through the first issue, Bridget said, “Honestly, I don’t know how one person was able to do it before. Kudos to Sue Kujawa for her commitment and determination” that persisted from the beginning of the Village, and has continued during our stewardship, in her periodic Letters from the President.

Luckily, our call for newsletter writers brought us a stellar team of dedicated, enthusiastic and talented people with inquiring minds and a collaborative spirit that makes everyone leave our monthly editorial meetings energized about the assignments ahead.

Ed Rinderle was already on board. “I worked with Sue before the [new] committee was formed. I believe in the value of the newsletter not only for Villagers, but also for the wider community.” Ed has also contributed to the website blog, which he says allows him to incorporate some imaginative fantasy, but “the newsletter provides an avenue to explore a different kind of writing.” He likes our team process, in which “a lot of ideas for articles emerge.” But he says he would like to see a more visible and direct link to the newsletter on the Village website home page. That’s a technical hurdle, but one we hope will be overcome soon.

Kären Bagnard, also a longtime newsletter writer, says she’s always enjoyed contributing, but coming together as a team is “exhilarating and meaningful to me.” It “feels like an organized, well-thought-out approach to communicating to the Villagers and the community at large about who we are and what matters to us.”  

Sue Addelson doesn’t recall exactly how she found out about the editorial team, but “I think it found me, for which I am extremely grateful.” She said to her husband and a few others, “This team fulfills four things I need: something purposeful; something challenging; a community of like-minded people; and fun.”

The fun continues to grow, along with our team. Following the release of our June newsletter, we gained two more writers: Jim Hendrick and Margarite Olmos joined Sue, Kären, Ed, Bridget and me, along with Suzi Hoge, Ed Mervine and Dick Myers. As Bridget notes, “When we gather and bounce ideas around, they bring forth other ideas, and when the bouncing stops (if it does), we have a multitude of articles” that will not only engage their authors as they reach out to many other Villagers, but will ultimately weave everyone together, both writers and readers at large.

In our first year we’ve also had in-depth and fascinating pieces contributed by Sally Asmundson, Terry Chamorro, Claire Gorfinkel, Jan McFarlane and Marv Dainoff. Anyone can offer to be a guest writer or join our team by emailing Bridget at bridget.b.brewster@gmail.com.

We also receive invaluable support and input from Katie and her staff. We are embarking on the second year of Voice of the Village with a slightly more free-flowing schedule of rolling deadlines to give writers and editors a bit more freedom, but we will continue to showcase essential topics: who we are and what we’re doing as Pasadena Villagers; how we live our best lives as we age and support each other within the broader local and national community.