The newspaper you are reading today, either in your hands or online, is Number 52.

In our business of publishing a weekly newspaper, we name our papers after the Thursdays, usually 52 (but occasionally 53) in a year. Number 1 appeared Jan. 6, 2022.

In the 12 months between, we have gone about our business of covering Gloucester and Mathews counties: boards of supervisors, school boards, planning commissions, schools, churches, businesses, civic groups, issues, and individuals who make headlines. All are important parts of our work, and of our community.

We would not still be here (more on that in a moment) without the steadfast support, through advertising and readership, of the community we serve.

Still here: The Gazette-Journal was 85 years old this year, and our record is older than that. This newspaper was formed by a Depression-era merger in 1937 of the very old Mathews Journal (1904 or 1905 … we are not precisely sure) and the old Gloucester Gazette (1919). They foun...