BY JOHN NAGY
Seven Lakes runs through my life both personally and professionally. Purely by coincidence, The Pilot was in the process last year of buying the Seven Lakes Insider at the same time Catherine and I were closing on our house here. I met many of you in the pages of the newspaper before I got to see you at the mailhouse.
When we took over the paper last April from Janna Guerra, we asked one of our young staffers, Mary Moore, to serve as editor and oversee the coverage of Seven Lakes and the greater West End area.
Mary did a super job for several months, but life has a way of intervening. Over the holidays, Mary decided to make her own personal and professional move to Texas, where she can be closer to her partner and apply for graduate school. But Before I could even lose one night’s sleep over what to do next, opportunity knocked.
Samantha Cunningham, one of our top sales representatives at The Pilot and coordinator of our popular Best of the Pines campaign, suggested we reach out to her friend, former supervisor and pastor at West End Presbyterian Church, Maggie Beamguard.
So I did. Maggie and I and Pilot publisher David Woronoff hit it off almost immediately. For those of you who know Maggie, you have a headstart on knowing a warm, caring, funny, generous storyteller who can relate to people, who has a genuine interest in her Seven Lakes community and a keen eye of observation.
In short, we asked Maggie to take over as editor of the Insider and she said yes. We couldn’t be more thrilled.
Maggie is not a “conventional” journalist but knows the importance of community news, the significance of local people and the lives they lead, whether that’s the volunteering they do, the activities they pursue or the leadership they present. And she has a nice writing touch.
I’m excited by what Maggie will bring to the Insider. You’ll see more of her in coming weeks. And you’ll be seeing more of me and the rest of The Pilot staff as we work to keep Seven Lakes informed.
But the real strength of community newspapers like the Insider are the contributions from the community itself. The best way for you and others to see your news is to share it with us. To that end, you are always welcome to reach out to us with updates on clubs, golf groups, block parties, concerts, boating events and other news of Seven Lakes and West End.
