Newsletter connections go beyond the printed page
One of the things I particularly enjoy about my job as Residency Manager here at Beacon Hill Friends House is assembling the newsletter that we send out twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. Having just put our spring edition in the mail, I thought this would be a good time to share what makes this project feel so special.
One of the first things we do in preparation for a mailing is to go through our mailing list and make sure we have up-to-date addresses for alumni and friends. This is a great excuse to reach out and catch up with folks we haven’t heard from in a long time, gathering news about moves, jobs, and other life transitions along with new addresses.
The next thing we do is to look back over the past half a year or so, and think about all the exciting things that have happened in that time: new residents joining the community, work days and retreats, Quaker events, improvements to the building, and so much more. To truly give a full account of all this activity would take a book, rather than an eight-page newsletter, but we try our best to convey as much as we can.
We also include a section in each newsletter for alumni news, and it’s always fun to hear stories from recently-departed residents, as well as those who lived here ten, twenty, or even fifty years ago. Sometimes alumni even stop by in person, as was the case with Sumiko Iwao, whose update is in the most recent newsletter. No matter how long ago they lived in the house, all these people talk about what a strong influence their residency here still has in their lives.
Recently, in part as a side-effect of our ongoing effort to organize the extensive house archives, I’ve also been enjoying finding some fascinating artifact of house history to include. Sifting through stacks of letters, pictures, meeting minutes, and publicity materials from the last sixty years, I find all sorts of unsuspected treasures, only a few of which make it into the newsletter.
The final thing I enjoy about assembling the newsletter is the spirit of cooperation and generosity that the whole community brings to the process. We get submissions from residents, staff, board members, and alumni, each of whom bring a unique perspective to what they write (or paint, or draw, or photograph). Invariably, just when I think I know what all the content will be, someone sends in a poem, a picture, or a personal reflection that I never would have expected from them, and captures some facet of life in the house perfectly.
Putting the newsletter together is a lot of work, and it can sometimes be stressful to meet the deadlines for publication, but the new things I learn about this community and the people who make it up, and the gratitude I feel toward everyone who contributes, make it well worth the effort.
