The Belleville Area News Foundation (BANF), the nonprofit created to run the Belleville Area Independent, held a fundraiser party at the BYC on the evening of July 16. The event was to celebrate retired editor Rosemary Otzman’s decades of service to the community and introduce the new team at the downtown office, assuring the community that the news will continue to be printed for the foreseeable future.
More than 100 people attended, from local dignitaries like Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin MacNamara to state Rep. Reggie Miller and U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell, along with dozens of supportive readers. You can see photos from the event on page 3 of this issue of the paper!
Editor Emeritus Rosemary Otzman with Rep. Reggie Miller | photo by Elena Manalp
I have to say, you could feel the positive energy flowing through the room. Everybody was thrilled that Rosemary showed up for part of the program, though she might have stayed home if she knew that Rep. Miller would give a beautiful, heartfelt speech about Rosemary’s 31 years covering the community and that local government officials would gift Rosemary with a plaque honoring her service.
The food was amazing, the gift baskets from local companies were so creative, and everybody seemed to be having a lot of fun. I was able to catch up with a few folks I knew from “back in the day” when I reported on Belleville from 1999-2004 and meet dozens of new people who told us how much they love the paper and wished me well in captaining the publication in the future.
I was called upon to give a little speech about my background and how I ended up back in Belleville. I also introduced the long-standing and new members of our team at the Independent. I also gave credit to the BANF board for being the real MVPs of the transition, but I failed to single out our tireless volunteer, Elena Manalp, by name, and I should have.
Elena has provided photos of community events, helped with technical difficulties, beefed up our Facebook page, and filled in with some page designer duties when our new page designer, Blair Temple, was out of town. So if you see her out and about or online, please say something nice to her.
And finally, thanks to all who came to support us on July 16. We had so much fun that we aren’t going to wait too long to throw another party. Watch for the next one, come meet me and the rest of the team, and maybe win a fabulous prize!