Editor’s Notes

Another year almost over …

The halls of Valhalla, onward and upward in 2021!

Image: Walhalla (1896) Max Brückner
The halls of Valhalla are a beautiful place to be.

LORI ANN REINHALL
The Norwegian American

Dear readers,

Another year almost over—and what a year it’s been. We’ve gone through a tumultuous election year with social upheaval surrounding us, and even now, we find ourselves in the grips of a pandemic.

Many of you have asked us how we are doing here at the newspaper, and as 2020 draws to a close, I want to provide you with a year-end update.

Fortunately, I have good news to share with you! At the time of writing this, I am happy to report that we are on track to close out our fiscal year with a balanced budget. Despite the challenges of 2020, our subscriptions are now increasing steadily with revenues up 15%, our advertising earnings have capped last year’s, and your donations have provided us with a steady stream of support, hitting the targets we set. And best of all, from the feedback we are getting, we are providing you with a paper that you enjoy more than ever.

Some thought that it couldn’t be done, but when you have a group of dedicated individuals working together with an entire community behind them, amazing things can happen. By streamlining operations, employing new technologies, and fostering the creativity of everyone involved, we saw a dream come true in 2020—not even COVID-19 could stop us on our “road to Valhalla.”

But we’re not stopping now; there still remains much to be done. We need to continue to grow our subscriber base and extend our outreach into the community. We understand that media are changing very rapidly, and we need to keep up with times, while holding fast to our committed goal to connect you to your heritage and the Norway of today. And we have a lot of exciting new things planned for an even better 2021.

Finally, I want thank all of you for the tremendous support you have shown us during the past year: as a subscriber, with your donations, letters, phone calls, emails, and the ideas and events you’ve shared. You’ve kept us going on our journey and will continue to propel us ahead onward and upward in 2021!

Wishing you and yours all the best in the New Year,

Lori Ann Reinhall
Editor-in-chief
The Norwegian American

This article originally appeared in the Dec. 25, 2020, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.