Starting Feb. 1, 2017, the Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle will be delivered free of charge to every house in Homewood and Flossmoor once a month by U.S. mail.
Starting Feb. 1, 2017, the Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle will be delivered free of charge to every house in Homewood and Flossmoor once a month by U.S. mail.
Patty Houlihan, Eric Crump,
Tom Houlihan and Marilyn
Thomas. The Chronicle staff
announced recently that the
paper will be mailed to all
households in Homewood and
Flossmoor starting with the
Feb. 1 issue. (Photo by Don
Thomas)
The move significantly expands the Chronicle’s print circulation from 5,500 to 14,000 copies and guarantees delivery to the communities it covers.
“This is a huge step for us. When we printed our first edition in December 2015, we handed out 4,000 copies in both towns,” said Eric Crump, founding editor. “We dropped them off at several businesses, both libraries and all the park district facilities. And we handed them out in person at the Metra stations to early morning commuters and at several churches, too,” he said.
“We couldn’t believe the response we got. Everyone kept telling us how excited they were to have a local newspaper they could hold in their hands,” Crump said.
“Now we’ll be able to get it to everyone in Homewood and Flossmoor, which is pretty exciting. A great community deserves a great newspaper,” he said.
Crump, a professional journalist, founded the Chronicle in June 2014 as an online publication covering Homewood.
He was soon joined by veteran community journalists Marilyn Thomas of Homewood and Tom Houlihan of Flossmoor, and the paper expanded coverage to include both communities. The three owners volunteer their skills in covering local government,
community activities, business openings and crime news to produce dozens of stories every month that appear on hfchronicle.com. They also produce additional features, profiles and columns for the print issue.
The paper has always been distributed free of charge, thanks to local business owners who have been buying ads since the inaugural print edition. When the Chronicle owners announced last January that the paper would be published monthly, many advertisers committed to 6-month and 12-month plans. So far, more than 100 local business owners have placed ads.
“These advertisers are our heroes,” said Public Outreach Manager Patty Houlihan. “When they buy ads, they provide the money that enables us to print and get the paper into the hands of thousands of readers absolutely free of charge. That’s what it takes to have a community newspaper.
“If our readers appreciate the Chronicle, they should let the advertisers know.
Thanks to the local business community, Homewood and Flossmoor have a local paper again.”
The Chronicle also received the support of nearly 200 readers who purchased a monthly subscription for $25 a year, which covered the cost of mailing the paper to each of their homes.
With the expansion in 2017, all residents of Homewood and Flossmoor will get it by mail at no cost.
“We are glad to refund anyone for the balance of their subscription,” Houlihan said.
“And subscriptions will always be available to anyone who lives outside the H-F community.”
Since its inception, the paper has received enormous community support, from an initial fundraiser in 2015 that covered the cost of printing the first edition to the monthly help of 15 volunteers who delivered the paper around both towns every month.
The print edition will continue to be distributed to a limited number of locations each month.
“The best place to get one is at a business that advertises in the Chronicle,” Houlihan said.
Correction:
The print version of this story incorrectly portrayed the subscription period and price. The Chronicle regrets the error.