Our area has traditionally been hit hard economically. Recently, GM closed its plant in Lordstown, OH which cost thousands of people their livelihood. Falcon Transport, a major trucking company, closed shortly after GM. These and other closures have changed the lives of our neighbors and friends.
While there were rumors of some closures, others took us by complete surprise. One of those unexpected announcements was that our local 150 year-old Youngstown newspaper, The Vindicator, is closing its doors.
We have been daily subscribers to The Vindicator for ten and a half years. That is approximately 3,833 newspapers! We love reading the paper, going through the ads, and especially reading about our local high school sports teams. As morbid as it sounds, we also look at the obituaries to see if anyone we know has passed away.
Don started delivering papers when he was in the 7th grade, and spent every afternoon – rain, shine and snow – taking the paper to nearly everyone in his neighborhood. It was rare for there to be a house that didn’t subscribe to the Vindicator in those days. He delivered the paper until he was in high school when he got his first retail job, but still helped his buddy Art on his paper route at times.
In 1986, The Vindicator held a putt-putt tournament for all the paper boys and girls, and so many turned out that they had two different age brackets. Don won his age division and still has his trophy!
One of Don’s favorite childhood Vindy memories was running to check the box scores as soon as the daily paper was delivered. When he was older and started playing Fantasy Football, the newspaper was a valuable tool. This was before the days of everyone having home computers, when Fantasy Football players depended on media sources such as newspapers, radio and magazines.
One reporter in particular, Guy D’Astolfo, has helped us tremendously. He has written two big articles and one short blurb about the Bernie the One-Eyed Puppy books. Shortly after the first book was published, we contacted Guy who took an interest in Bernie and wrote a terrific article. This past May, he wrote about the second book, and we hope he will write a piece about Bee is for Bernie before the paper shuts down.
Even though we don’t know her personally, we love our paper lady. She delivers our paper early every morning, and is always careful to put it in a plastic bag if there is a chance of rain or snow. She and her husband have delivered papers for The Vindicator for over 40 years and are so sad that it is closing. They and almost 200 Vindy employees will be out of a job at the end of August unless there is a miracle of some sort.
As The Vindicator’s days dwindle, we are hoping for a Hail Mary. Is there any chance a bigger paper will step in and save the day? Apparently, all options have been ruled out, but we believe our area still needs a newspaper. All we can do is hope and pray that someone with the capabilities of saving The Vindy believes that too.
