Comments (0)A Paper Hits 90
October 23, 2009Andrew A. Buerger
Publisher
There are no traditional symbols for 90th anniversaries. The symbols only go up to diamonds for 75 years, a mark based on wedding celebrations.
After all, very few people — Abraham and a few other biblical matriarchs and patriarchs aside — don’t live long enough to achieve a 90th wedding anniversary. Likewise, most businesses don’t come close to reaching that historic mark. When they do, I’ve learned that sometimes people will use the sapphire — 45 years times two — to mark such a tremendous achievement.
So we’re extremely proud to announce that with this issue, the BALTIMORE JEWISH TIMES celebrates its Double Sapphire, its 90th anniversary of publication.
Ever since my great-grandfather, David Alter, launched an issue on a Friday in 1919, the paper has published every single week. That’s 4,696 consecutive issues. We’ve published through the Great Depression (and now Great Recession), World War II and the Holocaust, countless weather events, Israel’s formative years and so much more. None of it stopped the presses or the postman.
We’ve survived the deaths of the founder, his wife, their daughter andtheir grandson, Charles A. Buerger, a man widely recognized as Jewish journalism’s greatest, most innovative publisher ever.
We’re proud to reach this moment. So many family businesses don’t survive into the third generation; we’re well into our fourth. We’re proud to continue publishing a quality newsweekly at a time when many larger, better-funded institutions, such as the Rocky Mountain News and Gourmet Magazine, have been shuttered.
We’d like to think it’s because of the quality of people who walk through our front door every morning. That’s true because you don’t reach 90 and continue to be the best without a lot of help and dedication. Every day I get to see how all the people here at Alter Communications work for more then just a paycheck. Those people take great care of our long-time readers, who in turn make a very attractive, valuable audience for our loyal advertisers.
Still, it takes even more than hard work, great people and good fortune to survive when many others have not. It takes a unique dedication and execution of our mission: to strengthen the communities we serve.
Another reason we’re still here and still serving is that each Friday we hold up a mirror that reflects the strength of the community we serve. In fact, I know it’s not a coincidence that Baltimore enjoys the finest Jewish Federation and the highest quality Jewish publication.
No one should be surprised that the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore also kicked off its 90th year this week. Its staff and supporters are rightly boasting of an incredible array of international Jewish leadership molded for decades here in Charm City. Ask around the country and you’ll learn that there’s no question that we have the finest Jewish Federation in North America.
For our part, we are free to question, probe and even be a cheerleader for the Associated as needed. This close scrutiny helps ensure that, on a per capita basis, the Associated gives more money to more people in need than does any other federation in North America. That leads to a stronger Jewish infrastructure and better service to our community from our elected officials.
Independent from the start and still so today, the BALTIMORE JEWISH TIMES has been free to report on all of that, and every other Jewish institution and local politician, in ways many Jewish papers cannot.
With all that in mind, our gift to you — whether you are a native or a relative newcomer — is a visit down memory lane. Starting with this issue and continuing over the next few months, we’ll be reviewing our most important stories since the end of World War I.
Coincidentally, this Friday would have been the 71st birthday of my late father, Charles Alter Buerger. His vision of excellence and expansion led to your BALTIMORE JEWISH TIMES becoming the pre-eminent Jewish publication and the leading weekly in the state.
As we celebrate 90 years of service, we thank you, our readers, advertisers and community members, for welcoming us into your homes, hearts and businesses every week, rain or shine.