Belleville Independent to celebrate 20 years of publication with free ads

Guests attending the Belleville-Area Independent’s celebration of 20 years of publishing on Friday, Jan. 9, will each be entitled to a free personal classified ad for three weeks – the regular $10 offer.
The Independent started publishing its weekly newspaper on Jan. 5, 1995. The 20th-anniversary party will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 9, and everyone is invited.
Besides the free classifieds on the day of the party, there will be a contest that has a Dec. 30 deadline with cash prizes.
The contest will offer a $100 prize for the letter from a reader judged the best on any of the following subjects:
• Your favorite story in the last 20 years;
• The story you found most important in the last 20 years;
• Why the Independent is important to you; or
• The story you feel the Independent missed in the last 20 years.
Limit your letter to 300 words or less. There will be a second prize of $50 and third prize of $25. All of the winning letters will be published in the Independent.
Mail entries to: Belleville-Area Independent Contest, 152 Main St., Belleville, MI 48111. Be sure the entry is marked “Contest” or it might get published as a letter to the editor instead of being entered in the contest.
Instead of using the U.S. Postal Service, letters also may be emailed to: mail @bellevilleareaindependent.com; dropped in the outside, black, after-hours box on the northwest side of the office building at 152 Main St.; or hand-carried into our office. Deadline is Dec. 30 at 4 p.m.