Community Corner

Fenton Patch Reaches 1-Year Anniversary

The site has come along way since last December.

I still remember walking around Fenton Jinglefest last year explaining to anyone who would listen what Fenton Patch was.

It was a difficult task.

The site wouldn’t even go live for another three weeks, yet I was trying to describe how it would be a hub for community news. Those first few months were tough. Anything I did, I had to explain what Fenton Patch was. I had heard other editors talk about knowing they had arrive when they heard people saying, “There goes the Patch guy,” but when I first started I never thought I’d get to that point.

Find out what's happening in Fentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We had hundreds of people log on that very first day Dec. 20, 2011. And today, I'm thrilled with the growth in readership on the site and how many of you tune in daily to read about what's happening in town, to share your pictures with us or comment on our Facebook Page.

The first time we really connected with our audience, however, was when we . We featured several stories about her including in and 

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Our next big story was when we broke news twice in the same day. We wrote about and , which both occurred on Feb. 22.

Our video of Community Parent’s in March also received a lot of attention from the community.

We also had feel good stories in our Hometown Hero series. One that really seemed to connect with people was about as she was selected as the Huffington Post’s Greatest Person of the Day.

Fenton Patch also kept you updated .

Now, a year after going live, I am amazed at the progress Fenton Patch has made. To most people in the area, I no longer have to explain who I am and what Fenton Patch is. They already know. We couldn't have done it without our readers, writers and contributors. Thank you to those who helped get us off the ground, props to those who held our hand as we started to walk and kudos to those of you who ran beside us as we started to sprint. Also a big thank you to all who stood on the side and cheered our efforts.

We have continued to try and push Fenton Patch to the next level. 

We want to be more than just online news; we want to be an online community center. Many of you have helped that happen. Many of your comments on stories have help spark conversations and that is what Patch is all about.  Many of you have also submitted articles, ideas and photos and we hope to collect more in 2012. We want Fenton Patch to make your life easier, so we are open to any way we can do that.

So while I’m amazed at how far Fenton Patch has made it in a year, I can’t wait to see what we can do in year two.


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