Chelsea Update celebrates eighth anniversary

By Lisa Allmendinger, publisher

On July 23, 2012, Chelsea Update published for the first time with me at the helm.

Here’s a little history of this one-person community news source that has no corporate affiliation yet continues to be published daily because of all of you.

With my many years of experience in the newspaper business, (I started in 1974) I wanted to give Chelsea its own trusted news source – as my give-back to this community.

A community that I’ve come to know and to love for more than 20 years.

Chelsea is a special place with magical qualities. It’s a small town where people cheer for each other, and support each other in good times and bad.

Chelsea is a place where fundraisers are organized when a family member is ill or someone has suffered a catastrophic loss. Hundreds of people support these events – whether they know the family or not.

The Chelsea community has always held a special place in my heart as a place where people come together for each other – in every possible and positive way.  

I specifically chose the date July 23 to launch Chelsea Update because it marked the end of the local daily printed newspaper the Ann Arbor News where I worked for many years. I jumped into this venture with no idea what might happen in the future, but believing that the Chelsea Community would be there for me.

Eight years later, that still holds true. Through donations from readers and advertising support, this community kept Chelsea Update humming along.

Although that first year was tough – with the help of former Chelsea Area Chamber Executive Director Bob Pierce answering all my questions about how to run a business – I did it. I juggled the daily editorial end, which I was very confident in doing, while slowly and carefully building readership.

The Chelsea businesses stepped up and came to me wanting to help. Business owners were willing to believe in my dream and to take a chance on this new venture. All of those original advertisers are still with me today and many more have joined them. And they’ve stuck it out with me – even through these very tough COVID 19 times.  I can’t begin to thank them enough.

And since there are never enough thank you’s to go around, I could not have done this without the faithful freelancers who help me cover this wonderful community. They do this not for the tiny checks they get for their efforts, but because they, too, believe in this community. And they believe in all the good people who reside here. So, thank you to reporters Lisa Carolin and Crystal Hayduk and photographers Burrill Strong and Alan Ashley.

Fast forward to 2020. This year has definitely been the hardest on us all. But I chose Chelsea for this venture because of my sincere appreciation for the town and the terrific people who make it a great place to live.

And yes, throughout the years, I’ve made some mistakes and I’ve had to smooth some ruffled feathers. And there have been a few doozies, but none were intentionally published to make anyone look bad. I’ve always done my best to put Chelsea’s best foot forward – but news is news and I’ve covered that, too. And I try to publish at least one feel-good feature story for readers each day as well.

But one thing I’ve done my best to avoid is stepping into politics. Taking political stands on issues or endorsing candidates has never been and will never be a part of Chelsea Update’s coverage while I’m at the helm.  

Readers should know that every word that appears on Chelsea Update has been read by me before it publishes. Yes, every word. And all the comments must include a person’s first and last name. And yes, all are approved by me before they publish. While many news sources have turned off comments because people have been anonymously attacking each other, I’ve continued to monitor comments, and to remind people they must identify themselves and own those comments by using their full names. As such, some readers have been very understanding, while others have been downright nasty.

With this pandemic, 2020 has seen a huge jump in readership numbers for Chelsea Update, which was very exciting – at first. But that spike in readership also has had a downside – a steep decline in civility, in kindness and understanding of each other.

For eight years, I have put my heart and soul into publishing a trusted and respected source of accurate, unbiased and balanced community news for this community. I make very little money doing it and I spend countless hours publishing it. I persevere because I truly care about the Chelsea community.

But COVID 19 has brought out the worst in people and for the last few months, I’ve become a target of people’s fears, aggravations, demands, threats and frustrations. After 40-plus years in this business, I have pretty thick skin, but the last four months have been brutal. So please remember, I, too, am living through these virus-y times right along with you.

So, I ask once again, everyone, please, please be kind. Think twice before you hit send with your hurtful words and comments or leave hateful phone messages. I want everyone to feel safe expressing their opinions, but please do so with some decorum. I’m a very reasonable person, who is working very hard for you, the readers, to provide this community with a news site they, too, can be proud to call their own.   

Chelsea Update is like any other news site – it’s available to you 24 hours a day, but I need sleep, too, so sometimes I might not get right back to you or approve your comments immediately.

If you have not discovered that there is a free, 7-day-a week newsletter, look on the home page for the box that says subscribe and you can add yourself to the email list. Each afternoon, you will receive a list of the day’s headlines. Click on the headline and the story pops up.

For those who like their news in the morning, go to the home page, the new stories for the day begin publishing at about 6 a.m. sometimes even earlier. I publish about seven new stories a day and most have published by 7 a.m. To date, there have been more then 20,000 of them.

If you don’t see a byline or a thank you to someone on the top of the story, it was written by me. After all these years in the business, I don’t need to see my byline every time I write a story. So if you are wondering who the mystery writer is – tag, I’m it.

Since I count on the community to help me not only with support through donations and advertising but also to help me provide the news, the people’s names you see being thanked are the ones who submitted the information or the photos. I credit them as such. I have to trust that they have permission to submit this information, but if you find something amiss, let me know. Call me at 433-1052 or email me at [email protected]. Should you see a typo or a problem, please let me know. I count on you, the readers, to help me.

So, Chelsea, your trusted news source has logged another year in business – thanks to all of you and here’s to the start of year nine.

Let’s keep this going together.

(And, as a post script, if you’ve read this far, I’d be remiss if I didn’t do this: should you want to support my efforts with a non tax-deductible donation, click on the donate button on the home site – it’s a link to Paypal, or send a check in any amount made out to Chelsea Update, 18829 Bush Road, Chelsea, MI 48118. And know I truly appreciate you all.)