Celebrating Five Years of the Lakewood Observer and Still Counting!

 

Five years, one-hundred and one papers (all of which can be found in their original print online and in a room down the hall from the Lakewood Observer office), countless hours of hard work and for lack of a better description, an unfathomable amount of time and effort dedicated to “observation.”  And for what? What could possibly drive each of these individuals to continually give of themselves and be part of the LO project?

Even before the first issue was published on June 28th, 2005, the idea behind the LO was to use the project as a starting point for citizens looking to do their part for the Lakewood community.  For some people this now means having discussions with their fellow citizens through the online discussion board run by LO, e.g. The Observation Deck. For others, their participation comes in the form of contributing to the paper itself as a writer, photographer, or editor.  The written word carries with it an incredible power and Lakewood sees this first hand every two weeks as a new issue of the paper hits businesses and households across the city. However, these words and images should not, cannot, and do not come about in a vacuum. While the act of putting words down on paper (or on the computer) or selecting a photograph to submit, may very well be a solitary undertaking, everything before and after this creative expression is, by its very nature, immersed in the community setting.

According to Publisher Jim O’Bryan, the project was designed around this need for a strong community building effort.  He explains that “the empowerment of citizens to try to achieve their dreams and visions,” has always been the project’s overarching vision. In several instances “empowerment” has lead directly to the birth of new, vibrant organizations designed by Lakewoodites themselves to fill a gap in the fabric of the city.  For each of these organizations the process began when an idea or issue was identified by an individual or group as “important.”  “We don’t take credit for the success of any of these organizations,” insists O’Bryan. That credit he gives to the individuals who came to LO with a goal in mind, and of course, to those individuals who are involved in the organizations/projects attempting to fulfill their ongoing vision today.

But, at the same time, the the project undeniably provides a valuable resource to the community by providing the venue for groups to spread awareness, engage open discussions, plan and coordinate efforts with others, provide media coverage, and helps them to remain in the public consciousness.  Although each of the following organizations now operate independently of the LO, during their early evolution they all, to varying degrees, were connected to the project in some way. The examples include, Bike Lakewood, Lakewood Is Art (LIA), Lakewood Earth And Food Community (LEAF), Detroit Avenue Development Association (DADA), and Madison Avenue Merchants Association (MAMA). 

In the most literal sense of the word the LO is also “valuable” to an extraordinary number of organizations and community events through donated advertising space and direct monetary sponsorships.  Board member and former Editor, Heidi Hilty, sums up the project’s community focused outlook noting that, “The LO has supported (monetarily, free advertising, prizes) just about every other group that's asked, whether or not we could afford it, Jim's attitude is always, "We can't afford not to, this is our town," - pretty great, I think.”

It is no secret that there have been bumps along the way, but such is the reality of living in a city as dynamic, diverse, and densely populated as Lakewood.  Regardless of the politics involved, the motives from person to person remain constant. This binding force harnessed by the LO project in many different forms is, the community’s love of Lakewood. 

In just five years the LO has accomplished much for a small community newspaper, but then again, this is clearly not just a newspaper.  As the project moves forward, LO board member and Lakewood Public Library Director, Ken Warren, envisions that the LO will, “Keep growing neighborly relationships, circuits of exchange, images of the good life and local knowledge through documentation, story-telling and gathering the fruits in the beautiful container of an inclusive and participatory community newspaper. “ 

During her time with the project, Hilty has been impressed with, “Having the Lakewood Observer become a household name, not just in Lakewood, but talked about throughout the US and even internationally. “ By Hilty’s assessment, “Getting the community excited (to be fair, both positively and negatively) about Lakewood,“ is one of the project’s greatest accomplishments over the past five years. The figures back up Hilty’s comment about excitement. In the past five years over 3,280 discrete individuals have participated in the project. Given the LO’s common goal of empowerment and betterment of the Lakewood community, as Lakewood residents, this number is certainly something about which we can definitely get excited.