Happy 16th birthday to Voice of the River Valley!
In 2006, a small group of community members with a vision gathered in a living room to envisage a magazine that would unite like-minded people thirsty for arts, culture and nature and that ignores the political boundaries that too often can divide the communities of our region. Mary Friedel-Hunt and her husband, Bill, stepped up to bring Voice to life in July 2006 — and the two of us have advanced the vision since 2012 with the tremendous support of contributors, advertisers, subscribers and a team of distributors.
This is a bittersweet birthday for us as we plan to transition away from editing and publishing Voice after the August issue — after 10 years of celebrating this nook of the Driftless Area. Now is the opportunity for another person, or couple, or team or organization to pick up the torch and carry the vision forward. We invite you to contact us at info@voiceoftherivervalley.com or (608) 588-6251 to discuss future possibilities.
Get ready for our closing issue in August. In the meantime, we invite you to enjoy the voices of Ainsley Anderson in her final “Raising Driftless Kids” column, Angie Buelow, Sara Lomasz Flesch, Doris Green, John Heasley and Jacquelyn Thomas, and photography by Erik Flesch, Don Greenwood and Michael J. Smith.
Consider doing business with our advertisers (see p. 3), whose financial support makes these pages possible. We’re grateful as always to distribution volunteers Joy Gieseke, Joni and Rick Graves, Linda Kelen, Mark McCauley, Nick Schweitzer and Rountree Gallery volunteers.
Happy reading,
