This month, Marple Friends & Neighbors proudly releases its 75th issue! It’s more than just a number—it’s a celebration of Bringing People Together. From our inaugural issue in 2018 as a Best Version Media publication, to becoming a cherished local publication, we’ve inspired hometown pride and become a vital monthly source of valuable information for our thousands of readers.
Thanks to our dedicated Publisher, Bob Blaisse, we’ve been able to bring you stories that we hope inform, inspire and connect you to the Marple community. To celebrate this milestone issue, we’re reflecting on what it’s been like to fulfill our mission.
Bob’s dedication to this mission was recognized in 2020 when he was named Best Version Media’s #1 Publisher among publishers of more than 1,200 hometown magazines across North America. “Our hometown magazine and our sister publication, Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors, combined for a remarkable top honor among all of Best Version Media magazines,” Bob said proudly. “That honor brings me to how all our magazines came to be: It’s our advertising Sponsors who make this magazine possible.”
Bob explained that our advertising Sponsors willingly choose to use their limited marketing budgets to show how much Marple means to their business and how much we mean to them. “Their advertising in our magazine is not only how we pay the expense of mailing your hometown magazine to you for free every month; it also pays for our writers, designers, graphics, ink and paper, which you know from the quality of our mag-
azine, is not inexpensive, nor is also publishing our magazines online.” We thank our loyal Sponsors and look forward to hearing from them in our A Word From Our Sponsors feature on page 12.
As your Content Coordinator for the past four years, I’m excited to take a look back at some of the Marple residents
featured on our covers who quietly make a difference. Since the first issue was mailed to homes, we’ve consistently highlighted the unsung heroes of the community— those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make our town a better place to live. From educators to first responders, these families and individuals remind us of the importance of community and shared responsibility.
The Gicking Family was on the cover of our September 2021 issue. “At first we were a bit nervous to take part in the magazine because we live pretty simple lives and were not sure what to share,” said Donna. “But when the article came out, we realized that the magazine is just a way for people to connect with other community members and most people can relate to a Delco family just trying to do the best they can daily.”
As Marple Newtown High School’s (MNHS) Athletic Director, Chris Gicking is still building Marple sports brick by brick. Chris said that he’s proud of the fact that last year MNHS had three District Champions (Softball, Baseball and Boys’ Lacrosse), the first time it has ever happened in Delco history for spring sports. Under Head Coach and MNHS alumni Kevin Merchant, the boys’ lacrosse team won back-to-back state championships in both 2023 and 2024.
Donna is a high school English teacher and she continues to run her Empowered Fitness classes. She’s grown her group from 15 members to 45! The Gickings’ children: Olivia, Christopher and Nolan, are at three different schools in the Marple Newtown community where they take part in a variety of sports. The family also rescued a 75-lb pit bull named Duke from Providence Animal Shelter last August.
Back when the September 2021 issue came out, the Gicking family received a lot of positive feedback and reactions from friends and family. “For starters, they were not surprised that we were in black and orange or that we did the 
interview on the football field,” joked Donna. “Our friends did not let us live this down for a while!” Donna’s and Chris’s parents were also excited to see their grandchildren in the publication and read about them in print. “I am pretty sure they asked everyone they knew for their copy of the magazine,” she added.
The Gicking Family said they are always excited to receive this publication monthly and look forward to the new featured family. “It is just nice to read about people who we see on fields, at swim clubs and in Dunkin Donuts,” said Donna. “We realize how much more we have in common with these families.”
The Wrights are another proud Marple family who were featured back in April 2021. Kim and William lived in
several different states including Hawaii, Texas, Oregon and Maryland, before settling in our community in 2017. They’re raising their four boys : Aidan (15); twins Jack and Brady (13); and Charlie (8). Their life is full of adventure and entrepreneurial spirit.
In 2018 Kim and William bought their first Nothing Bundt Cakes franchise and they now own five locations: Ardmore, Springfield, Wayne, Collegeville and Warrington. They’re even working to open two more locations this coming year and even more after that! Last year, Kim had the honor of being named one of Main Line Today’s Power Women.
The Wright Family loved being featured in Marple Friends & Neighbors. “Brady and Jack, my twins, especially enjoyed going to school and seeing the magazine at the office desk,” said Kim. “They felt like local celebrities.”
As the owner of Nothing Bundt Cakes, Kim loved being able to share the fact that they are a local, family-owned business. “Since the issue was published we have been able to connect with so many schools and organizations to
provide raffle prizes and other donations,” she added. “Seeing an uptick in sales was, of course, a great benefit, but we were able to give back to this incredible community even more than before and that was
my favorite thing about being a cover family!”
Our 2022 Friend & Neighbor of the Year, Fred Hilliard, continues to make a difference in our community since he was featured. As one of MNHS’s security officers, Fred embodies our mission of Bringing People Together. A dad, grandfather and mentor to countless MNHS students, Fred’s kindness and generosity have a positive impact on anyone he meets.
Since he started his job at MNHS 16 years ago, Fred has been one of the most popular staff members at the high school, known for his friendly demeanor, delicious snacks and fatherly advice. For Fred, the best part of his job is meeting all of the nice people. “I love seeing the students come in as freshmen and see how much they mature over four years,” he said. “My motto is to be kind to everyone and they’ll be kind to you.”
When that issue of the magazine came out in 2022, Fred said he was humbled by the compliments and attention he received. “People came up to me at local events to say they saw me in the magazine,” he explained. “It’s definitely hard to miss me in that yellow shirt!”
While many of our Resident Features have been longtime or even lifelong Marple residents, some of our cover families have been new to the
community. When we met the De Maio family back in March 2021, they had just settled in Broomall. Tricia and Pete De Maio are high school sweet-
hearts from South Jersey who lived in several places before moving here. After living in Phoenixville and then Havertown for many years, Tricia and Pete began looking for more space for their large family of nine. In August 2019, they found the perfect house in Broomall. “The yard is perfect and the location is central to everything. We think Broomall is one of the best-kept secrets,” said Tricia.
The De Maios said they really enjoyed being featured in the magazine. “It was such a fun experience and so cool to pull it out now and see how the kids have all changed,” Tricia said. Their oldest two boys are now both in college together at Dominican University in New York, where they both
play baseball. The youngest De Maio, Giovanni, just started kindergarten and is at school with two of his older sisters and one of his older brothers.
Pete and Tricia’s oldest daughter just started her junior year at Villa Maria. Tricia now works as a school Nurse and Enrollment Coordinator at Regina Luminis Academy in Berwyn, where four of their children attend school. Since they were featured in our magazine, Pete and Tricia also started a new business called Mission Love and Life, a Catholic non-profit. Now that they’ve spent nearly five years as Marple residents, the De Maios said they are very happy with their decision to move here. “We love Broomall!” said Tricia.
One of the greatest rewards of seeing these stories about our neighbors in print (and online), is the feedback we get from our readers. Whether it’s a social media comment or an in-person compliment, these interactions remind us that our work has an impact. Readers tell us how reading the
local features in our magazine is like meeting new neighbors in the community they did not know well, including local business leaders. “Having grown up in Broomall and now working here, it has been a pleasure to be a part of a community with a great mix of people who are very genuine,” said Dan Malley, PGA Professional at Paxon Hollow Golf Club.
Each monthly issue is the product of careful planning and collaboration, ensuring high-quality content is consistently delivered to readers. As we celebrate our 75th issue, we want to acknowledge our publication team, who build our magazines each month. Together with Bob, we all care deeply about creating beautiful magazines filled with local content and inspiring stories.
It is thanks to Sheila Turner-Hilliard, Content Coordinator for our sister magazines Newtown Square and Edgmont
Friends & Neighbors, and the other members of our publication team that we are able to build our magazines each month. The Friends & Neighbors team consists of many driven professionals who take pride in creating something special for our local community. Our talented writers, Executive Assistant Lisa Jeffries, our Graphic Designer Kim Cesati and Photographer Crissy Everhart care deeply about creating a beautiful magazine filled with local content and inspiring stories. We also have our own Expert Historian, Doug Humes.
I asked Doug to share a few words about his experience writing for the magazines. “I recently came across my New Year’s Resolutions from 1995, and one of them was to look for ways to find outlets for
my writing,” Doug recalled. “Be careful what you wish for! Since 2018, I have been writing first two, and now three, local history articles a month for the Friends and Neighbors magazines. It’s a labor of love, and I am so thankful that I connected with Bob Blaisse and his staff to make this particular dream of mine come true.”
This Friends & Neighbors team not only works well together, but we also take time to enjoy each other’s company outside of the “office.” We attend local shows and events together, gather to celebrate holidays and special milestones and host parties for our Sponsors to say thank you for their loyalty. Working together has certainly been a rewarding experience, and I am excited to see what the future holds for our hometown magazine.
What makes the 75th issue particularly special is not just the number, but the ongoing relevance it maintains in a digital age. As many print publications have faded, Marple Friends & Neighbors lets readers sit back and enjoy a moment of leisure. Here’s to many more issues filled with the stories, events and people who make our hometown so special!
Do you know a Marple family, individual or nonprofit group who should become known by our community? Make your nominations for upcoming feature articles by emailing your ideas to Holly Stupak at HStupak@BestVersionMedia.com.