Patrick O'Shea: We will never forget our Ellwood City readers
For more than a decade, the Ellwood City Ledger office has stood at the corner of Fifth Street and Lawrence Avenue in the borough. It was a prominent spot in the community and easily accessible to the public.
But for the last few years, the office has mostly been dark as staffing reduced and the doors were locked except by appointment because of health and safety concerns. And now it is going away.
The office at 501 Lawrence Ave. officially closes for good at the end of this month and all operations have been moved to the Beaver County Times office at 400 Corporation Drive in Hopewell Township. This office also is not open to the public except by appointment.
The Ledger will continue to serve the local community, but from a distance. News items can continue to be emailed to ellwoodcityledger@hotmail.com or timesnews@timesonline.com. Mail should be sent to the Hopewell office. All circulation and advertising needs can be served through links on ellwoodcityledger.com or timesonline.com.
It was a hard decision to make to leave downtown Ellwood City, but the company could no longer justify the cost of operating the local office. Staff workers were only occasionally using it and with most functions moving to digital, the need to have a place to meet with the public in person has lessened significantly.
We will miss all the great people we spent time with in the borough over the last few years. Ellwood City truly is a great town and it has been an honor to serve its people. It was a wonderful experience to walk through the town and be able to closely observe all the changes as they occurred.
We also will miss the joy of decorating the office's front window for the enjoyment of passersby during holidays, spending one-on-one time with people and visiting the wonderful eateries and other small businesses in the town. We are sad to not be a daily part of the community anymore, but encourage everyone to follow us and keep us up on the latest going-ons.
Thank you for all the support you have given us over the years. We will never forget you.
Patrick O'Shea is editor of The Beaver County Times/Ellwood City Ledger. He fondly remembers his time working in the Ellwood City Ledger office.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: O'Shea: Ledger office will always be important part of our history
