Dear home delivery subscriber,

It’s been a little over a month since we transitioned to delivering our newspapers through the US Postal Service. Despite extensive planning and assurances from the Post that the papers would be delivered the same day, in many areas this was not the case. We understand the importance of hearing from you on a daily basis, and we certainly can’t afford to devote all of our work to covering the news throughout the community, so that it gets delayed for days and becomes less relevant. While we work with the post office managers on a daily basis and are hopeful that the headcount will return to normal levels to get mail and papers out daily and on time, we look forward to it happening.

To this end, we have developed a solution for readers whose mail is not delivered reliably or who prefer a printed newspaper to our tablet, web and e-edition options. Starting in early December, we hired a former newspaper hauler to deliver newspapers to homes in key areas in Bennington County and resume daily morning delivery. To achieve this, we need to cover the cost of home delivery, which will require a small investment on the part of those who choose this option. Our switch to courier was made out of necessity, as delivering the newspaper via carriers was costing the newspaper too much money to be sustainable. Without making great sacrifices in the quality of the newspaper and the way we cover news across the region, this was our only option.

We now offer a “white glove” service delivered by the courier to your door every morning for $ 260 per year. We publish 260 printed newspapers per year, which equates to $ 1 per day. It’s still a lot less than it costs to go to the store yourself and buy a newspaper for $ 1.25 on weekdays or $ 2 on weekends. We know this is great value for our printing product, which we create from scratch five days a week and deliver to your doorstep, and we hope you agree. The minimal increase in the cost of your subscription goes directly and entirely to the carrier, ensuring you a living wage for making those early morning deliveries.

If you would like to take advantage of this option, simply call or email us at 800-245-0254, option 1, or [email protected] One of our customer service members can help you from there. Whether you read us online, in the electronic edition on your tablet or PC, in print delivered by mail, or deliver the White Gloves to your doorstep, we appreciate your support and to help us bring you local journalism and your southern Vermont community. It’s more important than ever.

Thank you,

Jordan Brechenser

President and editor