The KP News distribution team and your support

Scott Turner, KP News

The newspaper you hold is the product of many dedicated volunteers.

As you probably know, the majority of KP News staff are community members passionate about sharing what’s going on in their own backyard.

What you may not know is what it takes to get the paper into your hands.

I have been at the helm going on a couple years, and until last month, the only thing I knew about the distribution process is that it gets handled, soundly, by a special band of hardworking volunteers.

The KP News is printed offsite and delivered to the Key Peninsula Civic Center monthly –– usually the last Thursday of the month. The paper rolls into the center bundled on pallets.

It was a warm summer morning the day I walked in to help.

The looks I was getting from team members were not that of surprise, but perhaps more inline with the “what-took-you-so-long” variety.

It was a friendly bunch, and before I knew it I was counting papers and stuffing bags just like volunteers have been doing for more than a decade.

Many folks get credit for the system in place, including Frank Slater, Phil Bauer, Bill Dietz, Kevin Reed, Bill Trandum, Gary Gebo, Dave Stratford, Connie and Vic Renz, and the late Marty Marcus.

The dynamic Renz duo have been leading the team as of late.

Prior to “distribution day” the two pick up large mail bags from the post office, bring them home and put tags on each bag. Each tag shows the number of papers to go into each bag, the mail route number and the post office location.

I paired up with Bill Dietz, the KP News publishing board president. “Cut this, count these and put them in those bags with the colored labs on it,” he said, flatly (but with heart).

Being a nonprofit, this was part of the process I get schooled on.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed other team members flying through the task. I was all thumbs and quickly humbled.

In a short amount of time, the correct amount of papers were separated into their tagged bags and stuffed into two SUVs, and soon, they were off to the Wauna post office to get weighed.

Connie did the paperwork and Vic the heavy lifting. After the papers got weighed, Vic reloaded the sorted bags of newspapers and drove them to the Vaughn and Lakebay post offices just like he’s done for years.

We send 8,000 newspapers through the mail. Some also get dropped of at businesses and some 50 others are sent out as paid subscriptions.

My time spent as a distribution agent was short, but my appreciation for our crew and our community will only grow.

Speaking of growing: I am always looking for more writers, so if you have an interest in joining the editorial team, please shoot me an email to editor@keypennews.com.

At about this time every year we ask for your help to keep us afloat. Included in this issue is our annual donation mailer. On behalf of all of us at your Key Peninsula News, we truly appreciate your ongoing generous support.

If you would like to help in the distribution process, or if you’d like copies of the KP News at your business, contact the editor at editor@keypennews.com.