We Gratefully Thank
Our Monthly Resident Feature Sponsor.
This month, Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors proudly celebrates its two-year anniversary! It’s more than just a number—it’s a celebration of Bringing People Together. From our charter approval from Best Version Media to launch their new publication in October 2022, to becoming a cherished hometown publication, we’ve inspired hometown pride and become a vital monthly source of valuable information for our thousands of readers.
Thanks to our dedicated Publisher, Bob Blaisse, we’ve brought you stories that we hope inform, inspire and connect you to the Newtown Edgmont community. To celebrate this milestone issue, we’re reflecting on what it’s been like to fulfill our mission.
The Friends & Neighbors team consists of many driven professionals who take pride in creating something special for our local community. Our Publisher, Bob Blaisse, has a powerful vision and mission of Bringing People Together. He works tirelessly to ensure that our monthly magazine is top-notch and is the only one our community turns to for quality content and expert advice.
Bob’s dedication to this mission was recognized in 2020 when he was named Best Version Media’s #1 Publisher among publishers of more than 1,200 hometown magazines across North America. “Our Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors magazine and our sister publication, Marple Friends &
Neighbors, combined for a remarkable top honor among all of Best Version Media magazines,” Bob said proudly. “That honor brings me to how all our magazines came to be: It’s our advertising Sponsors who make this magazine possible.” Bob explained that our advertising Sponsors willingly choose to use their limited marketing budgets to show how much Newtown Edgmont means to their business and how much we mean to them. “Their advertising in our magazine is not only how we pay the expense of mailing your hometown magazine to you for free every month; it also pays for our writers, designers, graphics, ink and paper, which you know from the quality of our magazine, is not inexpensive, nor is publishing our magazines online.” We thank our loyal Sponsors and look forward to hearing from them in our A Word From Our Sponsors feature on page 20.
As your Content Coordinator, I’m excited to be a part of an award-winning team and reflect on some of the residents featured on our covers
who make a difference in our community. We’ll also hear from our readers about what makes Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors so special and why they look forward to getting the monthly magazine delivered to their mailboxes.
As the Content Coordinator for Newtown Edgmont and Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors, hometown pride is important to me. Although I have been writing for the magazine for four years now, I am a lifelong Newtown Square resident, a Newtown Square business owner for the past 21 years and the President of the Newtown Square Business Association. I take great pride in our community and enjoy sharing exciting news and
highlighting people who make a difference in our neighborhood.
We take great pride in spotlighting local families, individuals, entrepreneurs, authors and volunteers. We love to hear from you about how much you enjoy our cover stories and features. We enjoy sharing them with you as much as you love reading them. Every month, you’ll also find local events and the latest news on what’s happening around Newtown Edgmont.
You may recall that in December 2023, Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors introduced you to The DiCola Family, whose focus on building a
life filled with love, laughter, adventures and meaningful memories makes their home so very special. Pat and Michelle have their hands full these days with three kids under the age of six, so the thought of being featured in our magazine was a little overwhelming. “From the photo shoot to the interview and writing process, our overall experience was amazing,” Pat recalled. “Your team took something that is incredibly complicated and made it an easy, seamless process.”
Both Pat and Michelle agree that Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors has established itself as a pillar in our community. Pat said, “Of course we knew about the magazine, and the feed- back we have received around town has been great.” He added that they love to read about and get to know the other featured families and individuals on the cover. “Since our issue came out, we have actually become friends with other featured families. It’s pretty funny to now have a circle of Cover Families!”
Before the birth of Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors, one of our standout Newtown Edgmont Little League (NELL) players was making major-league moves since he was featured in our September 2021 issue of Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors magazine. At the time, Chris Newell was setting records as a standout baseball player at the University of Virginia, whose team made it to the College World Series in Omaha, NE.
When we asked Chris to give some advice to the younger generation of ballplayers who dream of making it to the big leagues, he said, “Growing up, I wasn’t the best player on my team, but I worked hard to become one. Study the game, listen to your coaches and stay hungry.” Chris’ feature article
in our magazine was the talk of the town, and we received many messages from the parents of young players telling us that Chris’ story was a source of inspiration for their children.
Chris’ advice proves that childhood dreams can come true if you put in the work because, in 2022, Chris was drafted by the L.A. Dodgers organization. He headed to Arizona to play Low A for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. His success on the field continued, and after just a short time, he was brought up to Hi A, where he played for the Great Lakes Loons. His impressive performance at that level earned him another promotion to Double-A, where Chris plays for the Tulsa Drillers. There is no doubt that Chris has a bright future because luck didn’t get him to where he is today – hard work did.
Speaking of baseball, our October 2023 feature article highlighted The Barkann Family: Michael, Ellen, Emily and Matthew. Life for the Barkanns is Philled with Phun, Phamily and Philadelphia Pride. These days, even though Ellen and Michael are empty nesters, they are busier than ever. Ellen is the Co-Owner of LaurEllen Productions. “I am currently producing a docu-series about the collaboration between the Black community and the Jewish community in music, sports and culture against the backdrop of the Civil Rights period in the United States,” she explained. “It has been a very rewarding experience, and I am excited to see the film released in the coming year.” Michael continues to host the pre and post-game shows for the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and Sixers and serves as Master of Ceremonies for the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremonies.
Despite their busy schedules, Ellen and Michael said they enjoyed being featured in our hometown magazine. “We love the Newtown Edgmont community and live in a wonderful neighborhood that has been good to us and our family,” Michael said. Michael and Ellen recently celebrated 25 years in their home and said it was the perfect place to raise their two children. “Sharing in the magazine’s mission of Bringing People Together is what we are all about,” Ellen said. “We enjoyed telling the story of how we met, fell in love and raised our two beautiful children here was
very special.”
Since the very first issue was mailed to homes, we’ve consistently highlighted the unsung heroes of the community—those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make our town a better place to live. From educators to first responders, these families and individuals remind us of the importance of community and shared responsibility.
One of the greatest rewards of seeing these stories about our neighbors in print and online at TheNEMag.com is the feedback we get from our readers. Whether it’s a social media comment or an in-person compliment, these interactions remind us that our work has an impact.
Each monthly issue is the product of careful planning and collaboration, ensuring high-quality content is consistently delivered to readers. As we celebrate our two-year anniversary, we want to acknowledge our publication team, who build our magazines each month. Together with Bob, we all care deeply about creating beautiful magazines filled with local content and inspiring stories.
The success of our hometown magazines takes a team of dedicated individuals who all share the same mission. Executive Assistant to the Publisher Lisa Jeffries joined the team three years ago. “Bob felt I’d make a good addition to the team. That was one of the best days of my life,” she said. “I love working with this incredible team of talented and dedicated professionals. I also really enjoy working with our Sponsors and Expert Contributors and learning about their amazing stories and wonderful contributions to our community.”
Holly Stupak, the Content Coordinator for our sister publication, Marple Friends & Neighbors, shared her
thoughts. Holly said, “I’ve lived in Broomall for over 20 years. What I love most about my role as Content Coordinator is that it has made me feel more connected to this community and the people around me. Interviewing people here with such diverse backgrounds has been a huge perk.”
Not only do our readers enjoy a variety of feature stories and valuable content from our Experts, but they always have wonderful things to say about the look of our magazines. Many thanks to Crissy Everhart, our photographer, for the past two years. Now, as we enter our third year of Bringing People Together, we are pleased to introduce you to Veronica Brown, who will bring her experience and creativity to our team.
“Living and working here in Newtown Edgmont, I was familiar with the magazine,” Veronica said. “It is a wonderful publication that ties the community together.” You may recall that Veronica and her family were featured in our magazine last month. We are excited to add her talents to our
team and will introduce you to her and her outstanding work in our November issue.
Our talented Designer, Kim Cesati said, “Working with this team over the past 75 issues has been wonderful. They make my job easy and enjoyable.” Kim added that after she is done designing the magazines, she enjoys sitting down to read the articles. Her favorite is Doug Humes’ monthly History Spotlight feature.
Speaking of our favorite Expert Historian, I asked Doug to share a few words about his experience writing for the magazines. “I recently came across my New Year’s Resolutions from 1995, and one of them was to look for ways to find outlets for my writing,” Doug recalled. “Be careful what you wish for! Since 2018, I have been writing first two, and now three, local history articles a month for the Friends & Neighbors magazines. It’s a labor of love, and I am so thankful that I connected with Bob Blaisse and his staff to make this particular dream of mine come true.”
Our team not only works well together but also takes time to enjoy each other’s company outside of the “office.” We attend local shows and events together, gather to celebrate holidays and special milestones and host parties for our Sponsors to say thank you for your loyalty. Working together has undoubtedly been a rewarding experience, and I am excited to see what the future holds for our hometown magazine.
What makes this 2nd Anniversary issue particularly special is not just the number but the ongoing relevance it maintains in a digital age. Our Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors magazine combines the best elements of social media and print by sharing positive, family-friendly stories, Bringing People Together through hometown pride. Visit TheNEMag.com to join us as we look back at the past two years.
Do you know a Newtown Edgmont family, individual or nonprofit group who should become known by our community? Make your nominations for upcoming feature articles by emailing your ideas to Sheila Turner-Hilliard at STurnerHilliard@BestVersionMedia.com.