Publishers Note

To my friends and neighbors in Rocky River and Fairview Park, hello! To those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting, I want to introduce myself. With all of you readers, I would like to discuss the Observer Media Project. My name is Jim O’Bryan and I am proud to be your new publisher.

I am the founder and creator of The Lakewood Observer and the project, which has been heralded as the godfather of civic journalism. The Observer Project was started by a group of concerned residents who feared their concerns, views and ideas were not being reflected by mainstream media. So, in 2002, we created a platform to help residents get their voices heard.

“Everybody has at least one story to tell and most people have hundreds of stories to tell,” Jim explained.” Every person is a gardener, a photographer, has traveled to someplace nice, has a niece or nephew. The stories are limitless. Some of the people in Lakewood who I thought were the most boring and mundane had the most fascinating stories to tell."

I love the month of January… notably, because it’s the month in which I was born!  I’ve never been much for making New Year’s resolutions; however, I do feel a sense of renewal as I kick off the New Year!

As I begin writing this month’s Publisher’s Note, the song What a Difference a Day Makes comes to mind.  Reflecting on this past year and the many changes in my life—I realize how precious our time on this earth is, and how quickly it can slip away. Although I have received many blessings this year…I did not escape the loss of several special friends.  I am also mindful of the fact that not everyone has been blessed with the magnitude of family and friends that I have.

Who would’ve thought that starting this paper would attract the man of my dreams…

I grew up in the "perfect" neighborhood...where our neighbors were considered Family.  Two summers ago the Morris’ who lived two doors from us hosted a Labor Day picnic with the Byers family; who lived just a few miles away but spent a lot of time on our street.  Mrs. Morris (Sally) shared my second issue of The Rockport Observer with the Byers Family.  One of the son’s visiting from Los Angeles noted my name as Publisher.