It is with a deep sense of pride in our community, love of our neighbors, amazement of our people that we publish. Our mission has always been to help our neighbors and visitors live their best lives here.
I’ve felt every emotion over these past weeks that a person can feel – I’ve mourned closures, I’ve wept over friends losing their jobs, and I’ve walked in circles wondering, “What is the right thing to do?” At the same time, I’ve experienced unexpected joy and love by walking around the block hand-in-hand with my husband; I’ve laughed at my young children who are utterly unaware of why they get this “vacation” from school; and I’ve managed to put more thoughtfully prepared dinners in front of my family.
Today, the COVID-19 crisis has a firm grip on the communities we love. We are unsure how to move forward, how best to support one another and how our futures will be reshaped – and transformed they will be.
Here at our publishing company the past few weeks I’ve been honored to work alongside our editors and designers as they create magazines under extraordinary circumstances. As they finalized pages they had to throw away story after story because they lost relevance as our landscape changed in a matter of hours. In fact, when we went to press, the world looked different than than it does today.
In the meantime, we’ve created a range of online media – newsletters, blogs, emails – that deliver timely updates on what our local businesses are up to, highlight our partners on how they are facing our new reality and connect our friends and supporters with one another. Send us your business updates so we can share them.
Chatham Magazine, Chapel Hill Magazine, Durham Magazine and Heart of NC Weddings will continue to bring you stories that inspire you to live your best life here, no matter how much that changes during this strange time. We remain hopeful and optimistic, because we started these magazines here not by chance, but by choice. We fell in love with our people, our arts, our food and drink, our homes, our universities – Go Eagles! Go Blue Devils! Go Heels! Additionally, we invite you to share your stories of bravery, adaptation and friendship!
Stay safe and healthy!
Rory Gillis, COO
rory@shannonmediainc.com
