Gazette has been fixture throughout years

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By Randall D. Fuller

Contributing columnist

I had mixed feelings when I learned that the Delaware Gazette was transitioning to a print paper two times per week. I think we can all understand the financial reasons for this decision. Some local papers are decreasing the amount of print material while other local papers are closing all together. I hope everyone understands how fortunate we are in Delaware County to still have a local paper.

This news caused me to think about how the Delaware Gazette has always been a part of my life. Growing up in Delaware County, my family always subscribed to the Gazette. As a kid, I enjoyed the comics or, as I called them, the funnies.

As a child, my neighbor, Millie Humes, provided local community information for the Gazette. This information included local events, church news, and local gatherings of families and friends. My family has numerous clippings from the Gazette about these events.

When I was in high school at Buckeye Valley, I played football and basketball. We always looked forward to reading the Gazette the day after our games.

During football season, after our Friday night games, my friends and teammates enjoyed delicious pizza at Pizza Villa. Then, on Saturday morning, after watching the film of the game, we were excited to see who made it into the picture in the Gazette.

Back then, Rex Walker was a photographer for the Gazette. He was on the sidelines for most of our games taking pictures. We would always tease, with a little bit of jealousy, whoever made it into the picture.

During basketball season, we read the Gazette articles about the games to see who made it into the paper. We also enjoyed reading the box scores to see our stats.

When I started my law practice in Delaware in 1995, I advertised in the Gazette. Back then, the Gazette and the Yellow Pages received most of our advertising dollars. It is hard to believe that we did not advertise on social media or the internet. It is amazing how much has changed in such a short period of time.

I remember my first “big case” as an attorney. It received several front-page stories in the Gazette. I was so excited that a case I worked on made it into the Gazette.

During my campaign to become the Domestic Relations judge, I was thrilled by the news coverage in the Gazette. I have great memories of being interviewed by Tony Botkin after winning the election. I still have the Gazette article.

For the last two years, I have had the honor of writing a monthly article for the Gazette. I have enjoyed writing the articles more than I had anticipated.

Some of my articles have been about my memories of growing up in Delaware County, but most have been about the Delaware County Domestic Relations Court. I enjoy when people talk with me and give comments and feedback about my articles in the Gazette. Some folks, like my life-long neighbor, Amy Dennis, share clippings of the articles with my wife Jen.

I am so very grateful to be able to write about the many wonderful things the Domestic Relations Court team has accomplished over the last six years. I truly believe the Domestic Relations Court is achieving some amazing things. This includes some unique and one of a kind dispute resolution programs that help families reduce conflict and improve the lives of parents and, most importantly, children, even while their parents are going through the court process.

I am thankful we continue to have a local newspaper that is willing to share this information with the people of Delaware County. This helps the families going through the Court to better understand the court process and the programs that are available to them.

I hope everyone continues to support the Gazette and the readers understand how lucky we all are to have a local paper that informs the people of Delaware County about local news and events.

Randall D. Fuller is judge of the Domestic Relations Division of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Fuller is a life-long resident of Delaware County.

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