Hopefully, by the time you read these words, you’ve already been drawn into our 34th annual Horizons edition that is a special supplement inside today’s newspaper. I’m an eternal optimist so I’ll just presume it grabbed your attention so vigorously that you jumped straight to that before even opening up this copy.

Horizons — a 104-page book is intended to showcase our best work and also the best the community has to offer in many regards — is like our Super Bowl of newspaper editions. This year’s theme of “Heroes & Heritage” certainly lent itself to creating compelling content that you won’t find anywhere else.

Virtually everyone on our staff worked countless hours over the past three to four months putting this together.

We feel like it was a mission accomplished, but not in a way politicians like to proclaim it. No, we feel this was a true success and arguably our best special section ever.

Every single employee contributed in some way but our newsroom, advertising team and graphic design departments all deserve extra praise for all the hard work they put into this and for making a commitment to excellence. It is easy to get fatigued when tackling projects of this size but no one ever lost sight of the ultimate goal.

I know that each of us felt it was all worthwhile once we held the finished product in our hands.

We appreciate all the individuals who shared their stories with us — and by extension — shared them with you. From lost and found love (albeit with a car) to the men and women who serve our communities in the police, fire and military to individuals overcoming adversity, we truly think there is something of interest to everyone.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all of the advertisers who supported this project and realize it is a great avenue for directly reaching engaged citizens who truly want to support local businesses.

Without these two groups none of this would be possible.

So, take a short break from your busy life, grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and immerse yourself in the Heroes & Heritage of southwest Michigan.

We hope you will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed working on it.

 

Michael Caldwell is the publisher of Leader Publications LLC. He can be reached at (269) 687-7700 or by email at mike.caldwell@leaderpub.com.