☀️ The Sun Is Out! ☀️
Friday, May 13, 2022 - Vol. 1 No. 1
Welcome to the first issue of the Marysville Sun!
Because we are at the beginning it seems right to introduce this project and shed some light on where it’s headed.
☀️A Light on Marysville
The Marysville Sun aims to shine light on the city we love. If we do that well, it should increase our love, and that should encourage us to love our city into greater loveliness.
The city isn't anything without the citizens, so loving our city starts with loving our neighbors. The people we live next to, worship with, do business with, and possibly disagree with, are, to reiterate the point: people. Our refurbished water tower looks great, but that came about, along with all the other great things in our city, because our neighbors went to work.
There are neighboring cities, sure, and loving Marysville alone would be near-sighted. Besides, hoarded blessings aren’t real blessings. But there are other papers and websites for Snohomish county and nearby towns. We had The Marysville Globe, but it’s apparently an Everett Herald offshoot now, it’s not getting much attention, and, really, there was a wide margin for improvement anyway. Why not make something for Marysville proper?
This Sun will shine most on what is local, the work and workers in our city. National news is easy to find, and easier to get frustrated about. There are national issues that we should think through, but the ones that concern us are probably more political in the original sense of the word, from the word polis which relates to the city, and less according to Party. There are obviously WA State issues that affect us as well, but Olympia and Seattle need our light more than we need theirs.
☀️Marysville Sun
Newspapers have a variety of titles. "Sun" is not frequent (less than twenty US papers according to Wikipedia), and Kitsap is the closest. There is a figurative value to sun, as a source of light and revelation of truth. But the fun reason for the name makes it the winner. Isn’t sun exactly what we Marysvillians could use more of? Don't you look forward to the sun/Sun coming out?
☀️The Forecast
The Sun will come out every Friday morning, and it will be delivered to your email inbox. If you're not subscribed, well, what are you waiting for?
We'll see about a website. There are already Twitter and Facebook accounts, and maybe those will offer links and retweets throughout the week. But the main channel will be the newsletter.
And yes, it would be amazing to get a PRINT(!) edition someday.
There are costs associated with this business. They are small for now, but if we want to provide some actual reporting, let alone printing, we’ll need some revenue. We at the Sun hate ads. Some of the worst internet ads are on news sites, and grabbing for page-views tempts site-editors/writers toward ridiculous titles and anger-producing content. The Marysville Sun should be different. If we provide something meaningful to you, and we’re going to try, we think a paid subscription will be worth it. For now it’s free, just as all those federal stimulus checks.
☀️The Editorial We
I don't mean to be cutesy about it, but the "we" is just a "me" at the moment. A one man operation is not sustainable and, more than that, it’s not desirable. I’ve got ideas to pull in other people. I’d really like to figure out some ways for "we" to be you, too. It’s a process.
As for me, I’m Sean Higgins. My wife and I moved from Los Angeles in June 2001, so Marysville has been our home for almost 21 years. Honestly, we did not move for the city itself. I've often remarked that in those days, State Avenue had more auto parts stores than anything else. There have been a lot of upgrades these last two decades, thanks to our Mayor and City Council, to many of the city workers, and especially to a growing number of local business owners who have made something valuable for their community.
I'd love to help shine more light on all these things, our history and businesses and events and opportunities and people. Are people doing great things in other places? Of course. This isn’t geographical bigotry, it’s priority. Here is where I choose to live, and here is where I choose to love.
Do I have any journalism experience? No. I mean, the last (and only) time I went axe throwing, I won, so there’s that. But seriously, what I do have is a love for Marysville and a vision to see it be a destination. If you prefer hashtags, how about #MMGA - Make Marysville Great Again.
That won’t happen by lies, gossip, or flattery. I’m committed to the truth because of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I haven’t meant to tease anyone by waiting until now to reveal that I’m a Christian, but pleasing the Lord is my highest motivation. I love my neighbor not because he’s nice or because the idea sounds nice, but because He commands me to. The Lord is gracious and kind and patient, so we should reflect Him. The Lord is not pleased with abortion or governmental tyranny or transgenderism or other woke ideologies, so neither can we be. The Marysville Sun is not a Bible website, but there is no way it could be a blessing to anyone without it. Amen?
And as much as there is to criticize around us, our city won’t be great because we’re good at grumbling. We have plenty of reasons to give thanks, and there’s more we can do than complain.
☀️What Can You Do?
If you’ve read this far and are excited about the project, I’d be glad to know, and/or for you to share it with others. I’d be glad to hear your ideas. If you wanted to to bankroll the whole thing for the next twenty years, get in touch. Or, if you’d like to leave a negative review, head over to our Amazon page (which doesn’t exist).
This could be fruitful and a lot of fun. There is no good reason we can't enjoy where we live and who we're with, while also seeking to highlight what is good and disagree with civility and make Marysville a destination in Western WA for those who want something better.
Very glad to see a good local paper in the Marysville area again, since I live just outside the city limits and spend a lot of time there with my family.