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Our History

Linda Geist, Publisher/Owner
Benjamin Herrold, Reporter
Deanna Geist, Special Advertising & News
Adrian Saunders, Graphic Artist/Advertising
Janet Painter, Bookkeeper
Nancy Stone, Weekly Columnist- Monroe County History

Linda Whelan Geist founded The Lake Gazette in 1997. A 1977 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, she earned the Cowgill Blair Award for the student with the most potential in newspaper publishing. She also won the state's Student of the Year award as a high school student at Monroe City R-1 High School and earned many awards through Missouri Press Association and Missouri Press Women's Association for writing and photography. She began her journalism career at age 16 at The Monroe City News. She serves as treasurer of the Missouri Press Association and is a member of the Missouri Democratic Editors. She is a member of the University of Missouri Alumni Association and served on the university's parent advisory board. Geist is a member of St. Stephen Church at Indian Creek, Monroe City Lions Club, Monroe City Chamber of Commerce and Women's Auxiliary to VFW Post 4240. She published a book of the town's history and residents in 2007 and also has published two cookbooks. She has three grown children and two grandchildren. Her family has lived in Monroe County since the early 1840s.

Benjamin Herrold is a 2009 Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of Missouri School of  Journalism. He holds a bachelor of journalism degree in magazine writing. He was valedictorian of  his graduating class at Gilman City R-IV. Herrold has written for the Columbia Misourian and the  Albany Ledger and has contributed freelance pieces for Inside Columbia magazine, Rural Missouri  magazine, the Trenton Republican Times and Boone County Journal. He also has a syndicated  weekly column about Mizzou Tigers football, "The Young Alum." Herrold covers sports and school  activities for The Gazette.

Deanna Geist sells special advertising and news sections for The Lake Gazette. She was a paralegal student at Sanford-Brown College in Fenton and also attended Moberly Area Community College and Monroe City R-1 High School before joining The Gazette. She previously was employed by Socket Internet and The Columbia Daily Tribune in Columbia and worked at Swiss Colony Data Center in Hannibal prior to joining The Gazette.

Adrian Saunders joined the staff in 2008 as a graphic artist. She previously worked at Intermet for 17 years and attended college at Truman State and Hannibal LaGrange.

Nancy Stone, who also serves as president of the Monroe County Historical Society, writes a weekly column on Monroe County history. She also holds a degree from Columbia College.

Janet Painter is the author of the Years Ago column and also does the billing and subscription updating. She works part-time and is a full-time employee of CW's Awards and Trophies. She has been associated with the newspaper for more than nine years.

Monroe County residents $25 a year including tax.
Elsewhere $30 a year including tax.
Other countries $65 a year including tax.

Monroe City
     Ben Franklin
     Sweet Shop
     Abel's Quik Stop
     Buckman's Convenience Store
     Casey's General Store
     Dollar General
     Amoco's Convenience Store
     C&R Market
     Pizza Hut

Paris
     Abel's Quik Stop

Perry

Shelbina
     C&R Market

Center
     Pickadilly Quik Store

Single copies are 75¢

Letters to the editor will be published in our print edition without charge as space permits. They must be signed and include an address and phone number so the letter's authenticity can be confirmed. Names will not be withheld. The subject matter cannot deal with personalities.

Letter writers must reside in The Lake Gazette's market area, or have ties to the area.

Letters must be kept to a reasonable length, and we reserve the right to condense or edit letter without changing their meaning.

Letters thanking private individuals or groups will be published only as paid advertising. Thank-yous to the community at large will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Letters that praise or criticize private businesses will not be accepted. Letters that discuss political issues are welcome, but letters that support or oppose political candidates will be published only as paid advertising.

Letters should be original in thought; mass produced letters are not acceptable.

Letter may be mailed to or delivered in person to our office at 304 S. Main St., Monroe City, Mo. 63456, or emailed to the lakegazette@socket.net.

Birth announcements and photos of newborns will be published without charge of any baby born to parents or grandparents from The Lake Gazette's market area.

The information submitted should include the complete name of the baby, parents and maternal and paternal grandparents (and great-grandparents if living), the town of their residence, the baby's sex (sometimes it's hard to tell from the name), it's height and weight at birth, the exact time of birth and hospital, and the names and ages of any siblings. In the case of unmarried parents, the father's name will not be published unless the information is accompanied by his signature permitting us to do so.

Birth announcements will be edited so they appear in consistent style.

Announcements may be mailed to or delivered in person to our office at 304 S. Main Street Monroe City, Mo. 63456, or emailed to the lakegazette@socket.net.

Engagement and wedding announcements will be printed without charge. Photos are welcome.

News of birthday parties for children ages 1 to 5 who live in the Gazette's market area or whose grandparents live in the Gazette market area will be published without charge and this may include a photo. Birthday ads, which congratulate someone on reaching a certain milestone, generally cost $16.

Death notices, including photographs, are published without charge. All relevant factual information will be published, although we may rewrite to edit for consistent style, spelling and grammar. Tributes to the deceased and thank-yous will be charged advertising rates. They may be emailed to gazettenews@socket.net or faxed to 573-735-3261.

The deadline for all news is noon on Monday of the publication week, any news received after deadline will be published the following week.

Classified ads up to 25 words paid in advance are $4 each per week or three weeks for $10.

Non-profit organizations may place a tile ad for one month at a reduced rate of $25 per month, but will not be placed on the home page and must be paid in advance.

The Lake Gazette newspaper was founded in April of 1997. It is now the largest paid circulation newspaper in Northeast Missouri with a circulation of 2,400.

Linda Whelan Geist is the publisher and owner. She published her first edition of the tabloid-format paper on April 2, 1997, after being fired from The Monroe City News and the Mark Twain Regional News on Feb. 1, 1997. The News ceased operations in its 125th year two weeks prior to the third year of the Gazette's existence.

Geist began the publication with one part-time employee, Linda Stinson, a graduate of the School of the Ozarks, and herself. She began her journalism career while in high school when H. Michael Sell offered her a job at The Monroe City News for $1 an hour, 12 hours per week during the school year and 40 hours per week during the summer. She published her first special edition on the history of the Hunnewell Homecoming when she was 16. She worked there three summers prior to graduating in 1977 from the University of Missouri School of Journalism where she received the Cowgill Blair Award for the student with the most potential in newspaper publishing.

She also worked for the Columbia Daily Tribune and the Columbia Missourian while in school and the Higginsville Advance and the Hannibal Courier-Post, in addition to publishing newsletters for Diemakers, Inc., and Contel Telephone Company. She returned to the News several times during her career, last serving as publisher, during the time when the company was owned by American Publishing Co., a Canadian-based holding company, which was later sold to Liberty Publishing.

She started operations in a small rented room at 205 W. Dover in a building owned by her sister, Debbie Keller. During the first few weeks of publication, her parents, siblings and children hand-delivered the newspaper to each home in Monroe City to establish its presence. The paper quickly grew and gained more subscribers than its competitor, the News, within the first year of its existence.

"Hometown News by and for Hometown People" was the original theme of the paper, which prides itself on its news and coverage of Monroe City and the Mark Twain Lake area and its quality photographs and graphics.

In 2000, the Gazette purchased its own building at 217 N. Main St., and expanded its operations. Following the tornado that hit Monroe City on March 12, 2006 and destroyed that building, the paper relocated to the 205 W. Dover location. In May 2007, the office was moved to a completely renovated and redesigned building at 304 S. Main St.The paper is printed on Wednesday mornings at the Mexico Ledger and is mailed at the Monroe City Post Office and sold at convenience stores and other locations throughout the lake area.