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🍊 Sunday Gazette: December 15, 2024

Gazette Staff
8 min read
Main Street glows with dazzling holiday lights, creating a festive atmosphere perfect for evening strolls and seasonal celebrations. (Bob Sirotnik)

Sunday Gazette: December 15, 2024

Today, we’re launching our second year-end giving campaign, which makes this an email asking for $40,000.

In three weeks, The Raincross Gazette will be four years old, and 2024 was a monumental year for this upstart newsroom. Here are just a few highlights:

  • Revenue Growth: Our total revenue is up 345% over 2023, and I was able to start taking a paycheck after 3+ years of building this newsroom pro bono.
  • Reader Growth: Our subscriber base nearly doubled, and we now reach over 7,000 readers with each edition.
  • Team Growth: Ken Crawford joined us as the first reporter dedicated to covering Riverside in over a decade, and Amy LĂłpez became our part-time Content Manager, handling stories, newsletters, and social media. We had our first-ever team holiday party because this was the first year we’ve had a complete team!

This time last year, I said:

“What is happening here at The Raincross Gazette is working – there’s just one problem. We’re not yet a financially sustainable business, but we’re so close, and now I am asking for your help.”

So here I am again; as I said earlier, this is an email asking for $40,000.

But first, I’ve got some great news to share. Through our participation in the Inland Empire Journalism Innovation Hub+Fund, powered by the Inland Empire Community Foundation, The Raincross Gazette is scheduled to receive a $20,000 grant to support the growth of our newsroom!

I am banking those dollars, combining them with some I’ve managed to save over the year, and am pledging to hire a trained and experienced full-time City Hall reporter in early 2025! Exactly when we hire them depends entirely on you–did I already tell you this is an email asking for $40,000?

The Gazette has 7,000 subscribers; we will hit our goal easily if everyone kicks in just $6. Some of you can contribute a lot more than $6, and I am personally asking you to help me build the newsroom Riverside deserves.

I often struggle with exactly how much I should share with you in these emails, and every time I choose increased vulnerability, I get such incredible responses. So here are our financial details from 2024:

  • Total Revenue: $191,140
  • Monthly Support: $2,159
  • Average Monthly Support: $6

Here's something I dream about: if each of our readers kicked in $6 every month, we could hire not just one reporter but five! We might not be there yet, but I am committed to building the newsroom Riverside deserves. 

This is an email asking for $40,000; here’s how you can help:

  1. Become a Member: join for as little as $5 monthly.
  2. Contribute Directly: Give to our year-end giving campaign.
  3. Spread the Word: Encourage your neighbors to subscribe for free.

For those of you who cannot contribute, I feel you and your readership means the world to me. Please know I am committed to keeping The Gazette free forever.

There it is, an email asking for $40,000.

If you have any questions, I will be at Condron Coffee on Sunnyside Dr. tomorrow morning from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and would love to answer them face to face.

Thank you for everything,
Justin Pardee

Help hire Riverside's dedicated City Hall reporter
🧡
This week, we had no new paid supporters, which makes us all the more grateful for the 362 supporters whose ongoing financial support is vital to our success. Your generosity enables us to continue serving Riverside with the news it deserves. Thank you for believing in what we do!

HISTORY

The Anchorage Park Inn: Riverside’s Winter Escape, Now a Memory

Once a haven for winter travelers, the Anchorage Park Inn served as a retreat in Riverside’s orange groves before fading into history.

Postcard of the Anchorage Park Inn with an Orange Tree in front. (Author’s Collection)

Places for these winter visitors sprung up, one being the Glenwood Cottages, the predecessor to the Mission Inn.  Managed by the Miller family, the first paid guest was Albert White in November 1876.  Another family, just outside of the original mile square, soon converted and enlarged their home over the years to become a winter retreat for those wishing to escape the cold.  The house belonged to Ebenezer Griffith Brown, one of Riverside's early founders and settlers.

Brown purchased 104 acres about a half mile north of the town along Colton Avenue (today La Cadena Drive).  The property was bordered by Colton Ave. on the west, Russell on the north, Kansas Avenue on the east, and Blaine St. on the south. The Upper Canal, built by the Southern California Colony Association, ran through Brown’s property and furnished the water he needed for this home. He soon planted oranges and other trees on this acreage. Brown’s daughter, Sarah, wrote that her father had “sent for a barrel of Tahiti oranges from San Francisco, and Mr. Boyd brought them out from Los Angeles. The seeds were planted, and we waited nine and ten years for them to come in.”

Read or share the complete story...

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NEIGHBOR OF THE WEEK

Neighbor of the Week: Chasity Testa

Each week, we will introduce a new neighbor. This is not a who's who list. These are regular Riversiders doing exceptional things.

Chasity surrounded by donated gifts ready to make the season brighter for families in need. (Brenda Flowers)

Chasity owns and operates a medical billing company in Riverside that was established in 1992 and currently employs 22 amazing women. She grew up in Riverside and attended Chemawa Middle School and Arlington High School. Chasity is married to her husband AJ of 28 years. The two of them raised their two daughters here and they graduated from Riverside colleges, UCR and Cal Baptist University. Chasity loves Riverside and volunteers through the local outreach department at The Grove Community Church. Her favorite time of the year is Christmas and her favorite ministry is The Christmas Store where children are registered for gifts by their parents and they get the opportunity to provide Christmas for about 300 children each year. Each child receives something to keep them warm, a family fun activity and a toy/gift. The family buys in with a small amount which provides dignity to them at the same time as loving on their children. Chasity and her family love Riverside and believe in using their talents to help others. They strive to add value to the city and its people. 

Get to know Chasity...

CREATIVE PROMPTS

Shell Schlock

A prompt to encourage your practice of creativity this week from Riversider and local author Larry Burns.

This week, we're embarking on a creative journey inspired by the captivating forms and textures of shells.  These natural wonders evoke a sense of mystery when you find them miles from a coastline. But rest assured, residents of the Inland Empire, shells are not limited to the seashore; they can also be found right here, like the fossils embedded in ancient rocks scattered around the San Bernardino & Riverside County, or the delicate shells of snails that overrun our gardens and sidewalks.

Read or share the complete story...

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This Week in Riverside

Sunday, December 15

Monday, December 16

Tuesday, December 17

Wednesday, December 18

Thursday, December 19

Friday, December 20

Saturday, December 21

Sunday, December 22

Save The Date

🗓️ See More Events     đź“ť Submit Your Event

📸 Submit a photo to be featured in our newsletters and social media accounts.

🏆 Nominate a remarkable Riversider as Neighbor of the Week.

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Gazette Staff

Gazette Staff

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