I hope you were able to catch our Planters 100th anniversary edition that published in Sunday’s paper. I thought it was among the best such special sections we’ve produced. It was a real team effort, with every person at the News-Herald, and many in the community, contributing in some way.

It’s that kind of teamwork between the newspaper and the community it serves that makes for truly “special” sections. We write stories every day and it’s a real treat to have others involved.

Additional copies are available at the paper for $2.50 each, incidentally. Call Circulation Manager Shirley Forehand at 539-3437, ext. 628 to reserve yours.

We’ll also have them on sale at this year’s Peanut Festival, at which we’ve invited the non-profit Suffolk

Heritage group to share our tent.

Suffolk Heritage is the group formed to coordinate our community’s participation in the Jamestown 2007 extravaganza. As you are likely aware, next year is the 400th anniversary of the first English settlement in the New World, which was some 40-odd miles up the road. There will be various events held throughout the year in observance of the event. Suffolk has been pegged as an affiliate site or something like that for the celebration.

Suffolk Heritage’s mission, according to its Web site, www.suffolkheritage.org,

“is to consolidate all the historical facts since 1607, lost and forgotten, and publish them. From the Nansemond Indians to Mr. Peanut.”

My friend Tom Powell at the Addison Group is the committee’s chair. The group’s big project is to update and republish Kermit Hobbs’ 1980s history of Suffolk book.

Their Web site is cool-looking, as is most things with which Tom is involved. I understand that any Suffolk resident can go there and tell their family’s story. Please check it out.

The News-Herald has big plans for the 2007 event as well. In 1942, the News-Herald published a 200th anniversary edition of the founding of Suffolk. I’ve spent hours upon hours with it learning about Suffolk, but the pages are delicate and crumbly so you have to be careful. We’ll be updating that for 2007 and will be seeking your input on it, like we did for the Planters edition.

Be sure to stop by our booth at Peanut Fest to see how you can be involved on a local level in the Jamestown 2007 celebration.