Opinion : On this day 11 years ago

Thank you Vinton for 11 years of support for Vinton Today!

The last few years my ability to remember to send birthday cards, or say "Happy Anniversary" to my kids has just fallen off the radar. It's not that I don't wish them all the best and love them to pieces, I just can't seem to juggle everything.

Today Facebook popped up with their memories of what I had posted. It's a good thing they have one because obviously I don't.

11 years ago today, Vinton Today popped up on the screen for your enjoyment. It started out with a skeleton crew of 3 and now it's down to a crew of 2. I'm not sure what is lower than a skeleton crew, but that's what it is now.

A very special thank you to Jeff Holmes who saw a need for a real sports guy and stepped into that job, for the low, low price of a heartfelt thank you and smiles from our readers.

Every birthday/anniversary I remember to say, "thank you" to the couple that made all of this even possible. It was a gift and lifesaver that I shared with them at the time I didn't want, but I see that God in all of His wisdom said, "Girl, you need to know how to do this job." The two always say, "You don't need to thank us, we just gave you the tools, you made it into something." True, but without tools it's hard to create, so thank you, again, Kurt and Lu.

Even the little things like input by Don, and hearing him cheering for the project, matted a lot as we sat and planned, it made me feel like this crazy idea really COULD be pulled off. Sherry also was on board at the beginning figuring out the advertisers. Which reminds me. There was one thing that I had no idea how to do. As a result of my time at the Vinton Eagle, I spent working with the fun ad gal Mary who didn't growl at me when I jumped on and tweaked an ad, which gave me the opportunity to learn how to make ads. The one thing I had no idea how to do. Then Bobbie at MonkeyThis gave me a few more pointers and helped me every time I get stuck in some weird design issue. Of course, there was Wes, who designed the code for this website which in 11 years has been the only design that has been unhackable. His expertise has been priceless. We'll talk more about that in a few weeks.

There was a stint where Vinton Today worked with Kathy and Steven and gave them blood pressure issues. It was then that we found out just how popular Vinton Today was. We found out that every country on the planet was trying to hack us. We gave them many sleepless nights, but they came through with their hair in place, but ever so willing to say, "take this monster back!" Now Kathy is happy with the much smaller websites that aren't as large of a target and I bet she's sleeping much better these days. Fortunately for us all, we had a weird sense of humor and we survived WordPress.

Then there are the many advertisers that have been with Vinton Today from the very beginning. You have made this something that the folks inside the Vinton city limits and the community of former Vinton residents all over the country can enjoy. The emails over the years tell me that Vinton is still in the hearts of those that have moved way, it's still home. Thank you for your support and your willingness to keep Vinton in front of everyone, this couldn't be done without you.

To the readers, what can I say. You've been here, some since the beginning, and some just recently. Thank you for reading, for putting up with my occasional rants, for laughing with me in the funny situations that I find myself in, for your support when the world crashes.

To those who send in your news, announcements, your ideas, thank you. Sometimes I forget some of them and I apologize, but feel free to ding me again. (see the first paragraph) Your endless ideas, and tidbits of news are what makes Vinton Today personal, and timely.

It takes a village to pull this off and I think I am surrounded by the very best one out there. Thank you to everyone, we made it another year!

Happy Birthday to us all!