OD'ing in the 'Nango

Phil Austin with Lion First Vice President Pete Owens

I have just used the inexcusable--a suggestive headline to get people to open this posting. The OD to which I refer is the ONEIDA DISPATCH, and on Thursday night at Lions Club, the Lions heard Phil Austin, the DISPATCH owner and publisher, and a Chittenango resident, discuss his plans for what his paper could mean to and do for Chittenango.

It will mean to us a new medium from which to publicize the activities and good things that are happening in our area. This past summer, I bemoaned the lack of outlets to spread information about SUMMERPLAY. With the CB TIMES defunct and the POST-STANDARD virtually impossible to crack, the only real alternative I had was online. Phil Austin is forward-looking. He saw the need our area has for a newspaper actually printed on newsprint.

More publicity about our village and surrounding area can do a lot for us. I blogged sometime in the past year about how sad it is to see the empty retail buildings on Genesee St. in the village. Last week, the DISPATCH printed an article about Michael's Restaurant, a business that's trying to make a go of it here. Mr. Austin said that he can't wait for more information and photographs about the 'Nango. As soon as I'm done blogging, I'm going to send him a press release and photo for Lions Club.

But you say, I don't subscribe to the Oneida paper. To get my news, you say, I get the POST STANDARD or I search for it online. Well, it's time to subscribe to the OD. The paper is being offered to Chittenango residents for the remarkably reasonable price of 99 cents per week. That's six issues for a penny less than a buck.

Phil Austin is visiting schools and organizations throughout our community to get his message out. And it's message that can make life better and easier for a lot of people. If you'd like to subscribe, go directly to the website www.oneidadispatch.com. If you have photos or a press release you wish to share, send it to PAustin@journalregister.com.

I like newspapers. Linda loves them. We subscribe to the POST STANDARD, and I check the online version of the Madison Courier every morning. Those things won't change, but I look forward to having the ONEIDA DAILY DISPATCH as a Chittenango-friendly alternative.

(Is it me or does the fact that the POST STANDARD features a Madison County page without any Madison County news seem a bit. . .absurd?)