The Voice Will Be Greatly Missed …

Eleven years ago I was at 272 Main Street in Torrington, cooking rotisserie chickens out of a little hole in the wall called Driscoll's Rotisserie Chicken. I met a nice guy named Jedd Gould, who was starting a local paper called The Torrington Voice. I would read about Jedd's new concept of a newspaper written by its readers while listening to Dan Lovallo and his Talk of the Town program on WSNG. Dan provided a forum where any tom, dick or harry could call up and voice his or her concerns regarding the issues of the day. That show helped people be elected, and may have kept others from being elected!

This new free paper that was just hitting the streets in Torrington, and which eventually spread to other area towns, had that same concept. For the past eleven years, The Voice has been one of the few ways you really could say what you wanted to say without having the message changed by editing. I wrote many articles over the years—most I am proud of, while others I wish I had done differently.

The Voice was indeed written by its readers! Over 1,000 people wrote in The Voice over the years. Yes, The Voice was also, as I stated, "free"—and to many, the information given out weekly was invaluable. There were views from the right, the left, religious and non-religious, as well as articles written by any "Joe Torrington" to "Ralph Winsted" and beyond.

A group of about 15 employees operated The Voice like a "mom and pop" newspaper—they really went the extra mile to help you sell yourself or your product. Katina Fagnand has dazzled you with her wonderful artwork in my recent ads—I can't take credit for any of that. There were great pictures taken by photographer Robin Gourd over the years, as well. From longtime advertising reps Vicky Hale and Kris Cianciolo, to layout and graphics wizard Chris Smith and editor Gary Pontelandolfo, this paper had a great team of faithful employees—and let me tell you, that is hard to find these days.

The Voice circulated about 25,000 papers from Thomaston to Great Barrington, from Litchfield to Canton. Nine years ago, The Voice helped me sell my rotisserie business with one ad. And as the result of the sale of another business I advertised in The Voice, I am prohibited from selling hot dogs for a period of four more years. (Yes, you did read that last line correctly.)

Not everyone will miss seeing Mike Driscoll, McCoy and Daphne on the back page of The Voice. Of course, local antique dealers will be thrilled! Thank God I have made a good impression on the people who have sold to me in the past ten years. I still get calls every week from past customers, as well as from new customers referred to me by those past customers. It pays to be fair!

I figure I have spent about $15,000 a year for the last ten-plus years advertising in The Voice. It was money well spent. Maybe this year, though, I should go out and buy a Harley Davidson or buy another house or another B&B instead of advertising. Do you have anything like that for sale? I am interested!

I feel I owe a lot of my success to the valued efforts of Jedd and his staff, and for that I thank all of those employed at Voice News. I feel I am losing my stake in something in which I had made a great personal investment. It would feel the same to some people if the Torrington Company were to close! It really would not be all that different, except I never had a 401K plan with The Voice.

As they say, life must go on. I will keep buying antiques and having people stay at my local B&B, but that little weekly thrill of seeing my ad in print is gone. A lot of people owe a big thank you to Voice News. Thanks, Jedd Gould, for all your help—I will never forget all your efforts helping with my crazy ads, and your paper will be greatly missed by many.