We’re having a party and you’re invited to celebrate with us! That’s right: Our hometown magazines, Newtown Square and Marple Friends & Neighbors are turning 5 this month, thanks to our dedicated Publisher Bob Blaisse, who had a vision of Bringing People Together in our community. Personally, I am proud to have served as the Content Coordinator for the past three years and am excited to take a look back at how it all began, what we have accomplished over the years and what’s next as we continue on this journey together.
Today Best Version Media (BVM) is one of the fastest growing print and digital media companies in the U.S., delivering local feature content and local advertising and branding of local businesses with local communities all across North America. With more than 1,200 monthly hometown publications (like our Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors,) and managed Google and Facebook ad campaigns delivered into the same zip codes important to our magazine Sponsors, our publishing team is bringing businesses together with buyers while providing local features of interest about people and places in our community both in print and online at www.TheNEMag.com. And now, with BVM’s recently launched sports web portal, for local sports – Pee-Wee to Pro, discovery of our wider community’s local sports stories, also sponsored by our local businesses, can be found daily at www.BVMSports.com.
BVM was launched in 2007 by co-founders Dave Durand, Pete Ericksen and Paul Lubinski. The trio developed a handful of magazines in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area before expanding BVM in 2012. In 2018 our magazine publisher, Bob Blaisse, was then managing another publishing company when he and Dave Durand became acquainted. At that time Durand recruited Bob to join BVM to become Division Manager for Eastern PA. But while doing so, Durand offered wise advice that Bob would be better equipped to manage BVM’s Publishers in Eastern PA if Bob himself had the experience of launching a BVM magazine. And that’s how the Newtown Square community came to find the first August 2018 issues of Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors arriving in the mail, and also why a new issue has followed every month since.
The success of this magazine then prompted us to launch the Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors in October 2022 and we look forward to many more years of sharing your stories! Bob Blaisse and his wife Jean, who is employed by the Marple Newtown School District, came to live in our community after arriving home from their honeymoon in 1994. When asked what led her husband to take on the role of hometown Publisher, Jean Blaisse recalled how she and Bob have lived in the Newtown Edgmont community their whole married life and raised their four sons here while participating in school and sport teams, Boy Scouts and contributing volunteer service through many local organizations. “Our home is this community, and when Bob and I saw similar BVM magazines serving other communities around the country, we knew we wanted the same for our Marple Newtown and Edgmont friends and neighbors,” Jean said.
When our hometown Publisher was asked to sum up his experience of the past five years, Bob responded with the same three words that serve as our magazine’s mission and motto: “Bringing People Together.” And then Bob told his staff what we already believed: “The last 60 issues of our Newtown Square magazine, and these first ten issues of our (newer) Newtown Edgmont magazine, have delivered our own unique brand of social-media-in-print that displays what we share with most of our friends and neighbors – pride in our local community.”
Hometown pride is important to me as the Content Coordinator for Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors. I have been writing for our magazines for three years now, but I am a lifelong Newtown Square resident and a Newtown Square business owner for the past 20 years. I take great pride in our community and enjoy sharing exciting news and highlighting people who make a difference in our neighborhood.
For another view, I asked my magazine staff colleague, Holly Stupak, the Content Coordinator for our sister publication, Marple Friends & Neighbors, to share her thoughts. Holly said, “I’ve lived in Broomall for more than 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.”
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 just over two years ago. “Bob felt I’d make a good addition to the team. That was one of the luckiest 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.”
Not only do our readers enjoy a variety of feature stories and valuable content from our Experts, they always have wonderful things to say about the look of our magazines. That is thanks to our Designer, Kim Cesati. Kim said, “It’s been great working with this whole team for the past five years, they make my job easy and enjoyable. I look forward to learning about our Experts every month but I really enjoy reading Doug Humes’ history articles.”
Bob and Jean Blaisse want to thank all their friends and neighbors for the many compliments about our publications over the past five years. And thank their local magazine staff and contributors of all the feature articles and photos that have now been published in the first 60 issue of our Newtown Square magazine and these first ten issue of Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors. But as Bob, Jean and our magazine staff always respond to any kind words about our publications, the credit for Bringing People Together in the hearts and homes of over 12,000 homeowners now for five years, must always first go to our hometown Sponsors.
“With so many big business and online retailers available, these magazines remind us about the wonderful things our community has to offer and how we need to work together and support our fellow neighbors and local businesses.” -Ray Magness of Scott’s Fireplace Products
Sponsors Scott and Ray Magness of Scott’s Fireplace Products understand the importance of our mission. “Supporting our community has always been important to us,” Ray explained. “With so many big business and online retailers available, these magazines remind us about the wonderful things our community has to offer and how we need to work together and support our fellow neighbors and local businesses.” Jack Del Pizzo of Del Pizzo and Associates shares the same sentiment. He said, “Being part of the magazine’s mission is a privilege that enables us to actively foster connections, promote a sense of togetherness, and ultimately contribute to a thriving community.”
Our free monthly publication is made possible only by the funding from our advertising Sponsors whose decision to advertise in our hometown magazine reveals to us just how important Newtown Edgmont residents are to the success of that business. We rightfully show our gratitude to our Sponsors by showing our returned loyalty to them, by choosing to do business with them first when we can.
“The magazine truly has a neighborhood feel. I’m a part of the community myself and often know the featured families. It’s no surprise the magazine is celebrating its 5th year and going strong.” -Rick Bondurant of R.F. Bondurant Plumbing
David Linn Cook, our weatherization expert for nearly four years, has doubled his firm’s expertise by joining with Waterproofing One’s owner, Joe Soster, as our Sponsor and Expert Contributors. Dave is also a Marple Newtown resident who said that he and his family enjoy receiving our Friends & Neighbors magazine each month, to read about people around town. Fellow community member and Sponsor Rick Bondurant of R.F. Bondurant Plumbing said, “The magazine truly has a neighborhood feel. I’m a part of the community myself and often know the featured families. It’s no surprise the magazine is celebrating its 5th year and going strong.”
“It has been wonderful being part of the magazine’s mission. The entire staff is great to work with, professional, personable and caring. They coordinate with us in an effort to bring practical and helpful information to the readers and their community. I enjoy reading the other Expert’s articles and patiently await each month’s magazine.” -Family Law Trial Attorney, Deborah M. Truscello
Our Expert Contributor articles offer valuable insight and advice on a wide range of topics. Our Expert Family Law Trial Attorney, Deborah M. Truscello said, “It has been wonderful being part of the magazine’s mission. The entire staff is great to work with, professional, personable and caring. They coordinate with us in an effort to bring practical and helpful information to the readers and their community. I enjoy reading the other expert’s articles and patiently await each month’s magazine.”
“I’ve found extra value in the feature articles by the various Experts, because even though I may not have need of their services at that particular time, their wisdom is always worthwhile.”-Steve Mostardio of Mostardi’s Nursery
Steve Mostardi of Mostardi’s Nursery always enjoys sharing information on how to make gardens and plants as beautiful, and as healthy, as they can be, but he also appreciates the advice of his fellow Experts. “I’ve found extra value in the feature articles by the various Experts, because even though I may not have need of their services at that particular time, their wisdom is always worthwhile.”
In addition to featuring our Sponsors and Expert Contributors, Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors also takes 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 just as much as you love to read them. Every month, you’ll also find local events and the latest news on what’s happening around Newtown Edgmont.
Our inaugural issue of Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors in October 2022 featured the Richards Family. Ryan, Alyssa and their four children call Edgmont home in a neighborhood that stands the test of time, not just in years, but for multiple generations of families. Ryan said, “It was a privilege to be the first family on the magazine cover. I loved growing up here, and now getting to raise our family here and reliving the same experiences is awesome, especially in this great community with great neighbors.”
Lifelong residents and those who give back to our community are worthy of recognition and we are proud to have those individuals and families featured on our magazine covers. It would be hard to find anyone in our area who doesn’t know Chip Miller III and his sister Joanne Hartley. Their family first settled in Edgmont in the 1860s and have a rich history in our community. Chip shared that his family was honored to be featured in our December 2022 issue. “Your excellent story told the history of the generations of our family and enterprises in Edgmont Township and the Village of Gradyville,” Chip remarked. “Thank you for helping bring neighbors together with your great publication.”
For the Dryer family, being highlighted in our February 2023 magazine was fun. “We enjoyed the experience immensely,” said Lindsey. “Our children have a great memory for their memory boxes and they still talk about when they ‘were on a magazine’.” If you recall from their story, Lindsey and Doug don’t just live here, they give their time and talents to Edgmont Township. Lindsey Conan is a lifelong resident who is currently serving as an elected Edgmont Township Supervisor and her husband, Doug Dryer volunteers his time serving as the Treasurer for the Edgmont Fire Company.
And one of our standout Newtown Edgmont Little League players has been busy making some major-league moves since he was featured in our September 2021 Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors issue. At the time, Chris Newell was making news as a standout baseball player at the University of Virginia whose team made it all the way to the College World Series in Omaha, NE.
When we asked Chris to give some advice for 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’ advice is proof 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 packed his bags and headed to Arizona to play Low A for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. His success on the field continued and after just a short time, was brought up to Hi A where he is playing for the Great Lakes Loons. There is no doubt that Chris has a bright future because luck didn’t get him to where he is today – hard work did.
So, what lies ahead for your hometown magazine? As we head into our 1st Anniversary of Bringing People Together in Newtown Edgmont, we look forward to sharing more of your stories. So please keep the nominations coming. We also are excited to offer you more articles authored by local Experts, and features about local families, individuals and organizations that are making a difference in our community. On behalf of our entire team, thank you for your kind words, appreciation and support of our Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors magazine. Cheers to 5 Years Plus 10 Months!
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.