The Mirror celebrates five-year anniversary!

Back in October 1867, two young men of Manchester–George Spafford and Mat Blosser (the latter all of 21 years old at the time)–got the idea of establishing a newspaper for the newly formed village of Manchester and its surrounding area. The two had worked together at the Tecumseh Herald throughout their teens, and had learned the business adequately to begin publication of a newspaper on their own. They established the Manchester Printing Company with the help of a few investors. And so was born the Manchester Enterprise, with its first issue printed on October 17, 1867.

Little more than a year later, however, Blosser had his bags packed and train tickets purchased, planning to return to his parents’ home state of New York, when a delegation of Manchester residents pled with him to stay on. He ended up buying out his partner, Spafford, and assumed full control of the newspaper, continuing on to a record of 72 years in the same business. He retired, reluctantly, in 1939 at the age of 93.

Fast forward 146 years: Back in October 2013, five Manchester residents, with a collective 50+ years of residence in the community, were bemoaning the loss of a locally-based news source. In 1999, the Enterprise was purchased by a large conglomerate and eventually was moved out of the community and made a single page in a larger newspaper which eventually folded. This group decided to test the waters with an online newspaper, which they titled The Manchester Mirror. And five years ago this week, The Manchester Mirror made its online premiere, with a goal of “reflecting the community of Manchester.”

“I think it’s pretty amazing that a small group of people took an idea with little to no capital and turned it into what (it) is today,” says Mike Austin, one of the five founders of the Mirror. “A local reliable news and information resource that can be counted on and trusted.”

Fritz Swanson, digital publisher says, “Our mission is to keep the community together by keeping the community informed. I am very proud that we continue to provide a free news source. Small towns and newspapers are both under threat, and have been for a long time. Rural life and village life are a special way to live, and newspapers are essential to holding that all together.

“I am proud that we have a print paper with a 700-copy print run (and growing). Going from digital first to print is the correct way to operate in the modern world, especially for a small town. People need the news online, in Facebook, and on their phone. But people also want news on paper when they sit down to lunch at Kellie’s or Linda’s; or to grab at the grocery store.”

Swanson continues in praise of his wife, Sara–whose firm commitment to the community, to the paper, and to journalism has not only fulfilled the vision of all five founders, but actually created the space in which the rest of us can work.

“It’s one thing to want a paper, or to need a paper,” he says. “But it’s an entirely different thing to make a paper day by day, week by week, article by article, headline by headline. And ultimately, that’s what Sara does. She’s served this community unstintingly for half a decade, every week working hard to do her best to get the news to everyone by Monday morning.”

The original vision was to publish four or five articles per week, but that aspiration was long ago increased, particularly by the inception of a printed version of the paper two and a half years into this venture, and now we publish an average of 15-20 articles weekly. The evolution to a print version has been warmly welcomed by the community, but has really deepened the physical, emotional, time, and financial commitment to providing a news source that is uniquely Manchester.

In five years, we have published 3,420 (as of last week’s paper) articles–each one of them for and about Manchester. We like photos, and we think you do, too. So we have published thousands of photographs; at least one with each article.

We are happy to have welcomed another Manchester native, Jennifer Blackwell, to handle advertising for the online and print editions of the paper. Contact her at themanchestermirrorads@gmail.com to place your advertising for next week!

We are grateful to the Exponent in Brooklyn (which, back in the 1990s, also printed the Enterprise) for their professional advice and for helping us make this dream of a printed newspaper a reality.

One thing that hasn’t changed from our earliest days: The Mirror is still free–both online and in print. We appreciate our loyal subscribers, and we especially appreciate the handful of advertisers who have been with us from the beginning as well as those who have joined us along the way. You have kept us afloat over the years.

If you run a local business, we’d like to help you grow your business by advertising on our Web site. Those of you who shop locally–spread the word about the Mirror to those businesses you patronize. If you see their advertisement on our site or in the paper, mention it to them. They will love knowing that their ad dollars are being well-spent.

Here’s to the next half-decade! We are grateful to be part of the Manchester business community. You’ll be hearing from us again soon.

Marsha Chartrand, Sara Swanson, Fritz Swanson and Michael Austin

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.