Northwest Voice weekly newsletter & reminder
Northwest Voice weekly newsletter & reminder
Greetings, Northwest neighbors!
O.K., two weeks of summer vacation remaining -- what will you do? Take a last minute trip to Pismo? Avila? Will you pack up the kids and go camping? Hit the slots in Las Vegas? Well, whatever you do -- don't forget a copy of The Northwest Voice. Our summer contest is winding down, so the deadline for entries will be the Tuesday after school starts (August 19) by 9:00 p.m. Look for the winning entry in September when we announce who gets DINNER FOR TWO on The Voice!
Next, the current deadline: To have your article, celebration, photo, event, or blog published in the next (August 13th) edition of The Northwest Voice, please submit them via the Web site by:
Tuesday, August 5th at 9:00 p.m.
"But I can't write." Yes, you can! Besides, our office is just teeming with talented copy editors & graphic designers, who will make you look GOOD. All you need to do is submit the story or the information, and we will make sure it looks fabulous for print.
"I don't have anything interesting to write about." Oh, c'mon! This is a community paper, so unlike a daily newspaper, the "stuff" that goes into our magazine is neighborhood news. In other words, if it's important to YOU, then it's important to us (your neighbor, pastor, grocer, barrista, hairdresser, teacher, dentist, babysitter, aunt--you get the picture).
*Before I was editor, I was a community contributor just like many of you. I wrote about the accomplishments of my son's baseball team; I wrote about motherhood; I even wrote an article about MySpace. So you see, it doesn't have to be breaking news -- it merely has to be important to you.
"OK, you make a good point. How do I submit?" Great! Just log on to www.northwestvoice.com, create a user ID, click "add," then click "article," and you're all set. You can even upload photos. I will do all the rest.
"Um, I need some ideas." No problem! Here we go:
- Recipes! Our Southwest Voice sister publication has a great new "culinary columnist" named Bryan Kelly (who you may know from Trader Joe's). I would love it if we could get some recipe submissions from the Northwest, too!
- August 27th is our "Biking in Bako" issue! So, for our bicycling enthusiasts, we are looking for stories/photos/submissions on your experiences with bicycles. Maybe you have a photo of your child learning to ride a bike? How about any bicycling vacations? Do you use the bike trails around town? Have any tips or suggestions for our bicycle riding community?
- Attention senior citizens: In October, I'll be compiling an issue JUST FOR YOU. We will need stories related to health, diet, activities, senior perks/discounts, and anything of interest to our senior community, which includes photos and celebrations, too (50th anniversaries?). The deadline for that issue hasn't been determined yet, but I wanted to give you time to begin thinking about it.
- Above are new ideas, but we still need the staple stories, too: School, kids, faith, gardening, school, sports, thoughts, blogs, etc.
If you are still unsure, please feel free to send me an email! I love to hear from our readers!
Whew! After all of THAT... have you seen our new issue?!?!
It's our Northwest RACING issue!
Kevin Callahan & Clay Wattenbarger are two Northwest teens, who are making a go at stock car racing on the NASCAR circuit. The issue is also filled with stories submitted by Northwest racing-loving neighbors.
Upcoming events:
Pet/Shelter Drive and Adoption Awareness event coming up on August 16th -- The event is from 8-11 a.m. at San Lauren off-leash dog park, and at that time, The Northwest Voice will be joined by KGFM 101.5 radio, NOR, Alpha Canine Sanctuary, the SPCA, Kern County Animal Shelter, San Joaquin Veterinary Hospital, Friends of the Kern County Animal Shelters Foundation (and many others!) to hold a donation drive to benefit the over-burdened shelters of Kern County. There will be a live radio broadcast, FREE vouchers for spay & neuter, vet info., adoption info., live dog games, homemade dog treats, and--most importantly--a place for you to donate some much-needed items for our local shelters:
- Blankets, sheets, towels
- Paper towels
- Dry dog/cat food
- Pet toys/leashes/beds
- MONEY!
If you would like to be involved with this event, please contact me as soon as possible.
In September, The Northwest Voice is holding a Health & Fitness Fair at Liberty Park. If you have any health-related stories, exercise or nutrition information, or if you'd like to be a vendor, please send me an email!
OK -- this was super long, but I hope you found it useful!
As always, please forward this email to anyone who might find interest in any of the items I mentioned above, direct them to our Web site, and invite them to become a Site User so that we can get their contributions, too. And above all, please support our advertisers, because it is THEY who keep our Voice free!!
Happy August!
Dana
