History Community Life Newspaper

             The concept of a paper for the Hartland Area grew out of the need for a regular means of communication among all of the homes in the area. In October 1933, the first issue of Community Life, a local monthly newspaper, was published. This was an outgrowth of The Blue and Gold Echo, a school newspaper.

            In the 1930s the records indicate that approximately 400 homes were receiving the four to eight page newspaper printed from September to each year. A subscription cost a dollar per home. Circulation numbers in the 2009-2010 school year were 17,500 and the paper is mailed out at no cost to the residents within the Hartland Consolidated Schools District boundaries. People residing outside the school district or Livingston County pay twenty dollars for an annual subscription. The paper now averages 28-32 pages per issues and is mailed out 10 times per year.

           In 2009, we began to insert the 12-page Community Education Enrichment brochure in the newspaper as an additional cost savings to the district. The quarterly brochure is published in the September, December, March and June issues.

            The Community Life newspaper has been funded in part through grants written to the Heartland Foundation and the Hartland Schools Foundation, as well as advertisers, donations and subscriptions.

Community Life Editors   YEAR                                                     NAME                                    POSITION   1933-January 1939                              Bert J. Ford                            Director, Hartland Area Community Schools   February 1939-August 1960               Florence B. Dearing             Librarian, Cromaine   September 1960-July 1967                 Mabel Steinacker                 Teacher, Hartland Schools   August 1967-October 1971                 Harold L. Bessert                 Admin. Asst. Dir. Community Schools   November 1971-August 1975             Ann Zick                                Head Librarian, Cromaine   September 1975-July 1996                Sandra Scherba                   Director, Cromaine   August 1996-present                           Nadine Cloutier                    Editor/Enrichment Coordinator Com Ed.

            The paper can boast of 76 years of continuous publication. It is a wonderful source of historical information as it has been a chronicle of events specific to Hartland. Back issues of have been microfilmed, the local Questers provide financial support to have two sets of back issues bound in hardcover, one for circulation and on set as part of the  Reference Library at Cromaine District Library. In addition,  digital PDF versions in full color will be available to read on CD beginning with the 2009-2010 series. You will need to request this through the Reference Desk.