Last month in this feature, I suggested how readers of Marple Friends & Neighbors become “Reader Leaders.” It’s when loyal readers of our publication find they are beginning to easily remember the names of local businesses and have come to appreciate how those advertising Sponsors of our community make it possible for a new monthly issue of our hometown magazine to be mailed to your home for free and be available online at www.MarpleMag.com.
Even if you’re still becoming a Reader Leader, you likely recognize that the title of my monthly feature is also our magazine motto: Bringing People Together. This motto is the mission of our publication intended to deliver hometown pride that brings people together as a local community.
The habit of reading each new issue of our magazine is rooted in Bringing People Together, by the simple pleasure of reading about friends and neighbors, some you know, and others you come to know by reading about them. The feel-good features also bring us together by learning about our local history, local places and organizations. Those insights show us where we are setting our roots, always deeper, with hometown pride. And the feature articles offering pearls of wisdom from our Expert Contributors bring us together with our friends in the business, willing to share their particular expertise with us for free, because they understand how important the residents of Marple Township are to the success of their local business.
In last month’s Bringing People Together feature, I shared how finding new advertising Sponsors can be puzzling at times, even for Reader Leaders. I shared how different it is, when a local business owner comes to understand just how much and how many homeowners truly enjoy regularly reading their hometown magazine, they then become more inclined to reward the Sponsors with their business. That’s when the puzzle of finding new advertising Sponsors is solved.
I must tell you however, I did take a little heat last month for including in this feature, the Word Find Puzzle which did not include an answer
key to the cryptic “Hints” I provided to help readers decipher the names of some local area businesses (every reader would know), whose
business names were hidden in the Word Find Puzzle. They were some of the local businesses we know would make great new advertising Sponsors to help grow our magazine page count so we can continue to increase the number of feature articles we publish in each new monthly issue.
The heat I took was from puzzle people who got puzzled by my cryptic hints, believing they found answers to some of the hidden business names, but without assurance since I provided no answer key. Well, I share that frustration often, but I know sometimes there is no way to learn why some businesses choose not to become advertising Sponsors of our community until they understand the strong loyalty our readers have to their hometown magazine.
Thankfully, we can always easily find the names of those local business owners which have agreed to become our Sponsors, who we can thank with our loyalty returned to them for making our hometown magazine possible, even when only a cryptic hint is given about them, because the answers for which local businesses are supporting our local community are always within reach. Let me prove it.
Each cryptic hint on the next page will point you towards an answer that will be the name of one of our hometown Sponsors whose ad can be found on the pages of this issue of Marple Friends & Neighbors. The hint should be enough to help you land on the answer, but if you can’t come up with the Sponsor’s name from the hint provided, the answer is still in your hands because after each hint you’ll find the page number of this issue, where you’ll find that Sponsor of our community and get to know them by taking the time to read their ad we reward them with for their investment in our community.
Test your Reader Leadership. You’ve come to know the names of our advertising Sponsors from reading Marple Friends & Neighbors every month.
See if you can come up with the answer from just the hint given before turning to the page number to be sure. And please, when doing business, turn first to your friends in the businesses you know, the local businesses which make your hometown magazine possible.
HERE WE GO! Ten questions with ten cryptic hints. If you know the business names of more than five of the advertising Sponsors for which a hint is provided, without turning to the answer page, then you are a “Reader Leader” of Marple Friends & Neighbors.
1. Thousands of our friends and neighbors have been to this Sponsor’s home in Broomall, recalling a lifetime of memories while there.
(For the answer, see page 21.)
2. The name of this Sponsor suggests only one expert for the money, but look, you get two for the show. (For the answer, see page 18.)
3. Come in the door to see this Sponsor and you’ll see more going out than you did coming in. (For the answer, see page 14.)
4. This Sponsor has many fans in Marple Newtown, which is not surprising since they a “fan” in their name. (For the answer, see page 7.)
5. April showers may bring May Flowers, but what this Sponsor sells hugs May Flowers for more than just hours. (For the answer, see page 9.)
6. Like most Marple residents, this Sponsor lives here too, and like you, has worked hard to put a roof over his head, but if asked, would help
do the same for you. (For the answer, see page 25.)
7. The light bulb will go on over your head when you “tell-a” person the name of this Sponsor. (For the answer, see page 13.)
8. This Sponsor can legally stop bad things from happening. No typo here. It’s tru. (For the answer, see page 23.)
9. Many Marple residents would say they were just thinking about a week, and know they need to visit this Sponsor again soon.
(For the answer, see page 5.)
10. While this Sponsor’s business may suggest it would be your pop’s first choice, probably not, but his daughters and lady friends would definitely
fit right in. (For the answer, see page 27.)
So, how many names of our advertising Sponsors did you know from just the hints provided, before needing to turn to the page number provided to
see the Sponsors ad? Did you learn more about our hometown heroes from reading their ads? It’s not a trivial question. Whenever possible, please consider giving your business to those who support our community by Bringing People Together through Marple Friends & Neighbors magazine in print and online at www.MarpleMag.com.
Bob Blaisse
Publisher, Marple Friends & Neighbors