For nearly all of the last 25 years, The Gazette has ended the year with a retrospective on the previous 12 months in Hammonton called “The Year In Review.”
In the early years, it was a front-page article, with a “Photo of the Year” accompanying the beginning of the article on The Gazette’s front page. As the newspaper grew—and simultaneously, as there was more news in Hammonton to cover—the decision was made to make The Year in Review a special section inside the newspaper.
This week, as in years past, there is an eight-page special supplement dedicated to remembering the highs and lows of the last year. 2022: The Year In Review is the result of news reporting by me, Gazette Editor-in-Chief Gina Rullo and staff writers Joseph F. Berenato and Mohammed Fuad.
It’s a special year for all of us at The Gazette, as we celebrated the paper’s 25th anniversary at the end of June. It’s experience that separates our staff from most other newspapers. We know the town better than anyone else, because we’ve been covering it for so long—and so well.
As you read 2022: The Year In Review, you’ll be reminded of the significant events of the last year in government, business, events and more. We’ll also remember some of the key community members who left us this past year.
In addition, there are images that we think are the best from 2022, including the “Photo of the Year,” the “Local Moments Photo of the Year” the “Sports Photo of the Year”—one for boys, and one for girls.
The Gazette launched The Hammontonian Magazine in January, so we included that significant local achievement by reprinting all four covers featuring journalist and “Gazette In Fashion” monthly online show host Franki Rudnesky on them. The Hammontonian Magazine was an instant success and has become a publication people look forward to each season. Look for it again soon!
Selecting the words and photos that became 2022: The Year In Review was a process that ultimately fell to me, as it does each year. Fortunately, I have such excellent material to choose from, as I do each year. Special thanks to Rullo and Dan Russoman for their work regarding photo selections, Gazette Lead Graphic Designer MarySusan Hoffman for her cover and layout of the special supplement and Gazette copy editor and staff writer Jaime Wuillermin for her review of the article and captions.
Let me also note the following: It takes an enormous amount of effort by The Gazette staff to create the newspaper you’re holding in your hands each week, 52 weeks a year. In addition to creating the content for the paper, our staff members are directly involved in all aspects of the publishing process: From the journalism, to the editing, to the printing, to the newsstand delivery, to the mailing to all of our digital products.
There have been more than 1,320 issues of The Gazette since we began on July 2, 1997. Some of you have been reading us since Day One. Some of you have jumped on board somewhere along the way.
Who knows? You may be reading your first issue of the newspaper this week.
Reflecting on this past year and the 24 years before it, I can honestly say that the people who work—and have worked—at The Gazette have been part of an outstanding achievement, the likes of which the town of Hammonton has never seen before: a newspaper built from nothing, that serves the public by asking the questions no one else will ever ask.
Happy New Year to everyone in town.
Next week, The Gazette starts working on the news stories and photos that will be published in 2023: The Year In Review on this week next December. We’re all looking forward to it.
Gabriel J. Donio is the publisher of The Hammonton Gazette.