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Congratulations to Mrs. Phyllis T. Sipes of Halethorpe, Maryland, whose response to a national reader survey placed in our April issue by the North American Mature Publishers Association was randomly selected as the winner of a $500 gift card. She said she loves to read the Baltimore Beacon, which she picks up each month at the Lansdowne Senior Center. Sipes said she’s been reading the Beacon for 12 years, that our Fitness & Health section is her favorite part, but that she loves to read it “cover to cover…It’s just perfect.” Thank you, Mrs. Sipes, and congratulations on your prize.

I want to thank the thousands of Beacon readers and their guests who attended our two 50+Expos in October.

I think those who came will agree that it was wonderful to be together with other people, and simply to be out and about on a beautiful day, visiting the informative exhibits, getting essential vaccines and health screenings, and enjoying a fun, public event.

I was especially happy to see so many familiar faces and get a chance to speak with you, catch up on your lives, and hear your views on the issues of the day.

Of course, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that one of the best parts was hearing all the glowing compliments people shared with me about the Beacon, our writers, our sales staff and the events themselves. I was floating out the door at the end of both Expos.

Our exhibitors were equally happy with the event and with meeting so many active older adults who were sincerely interested in the housing communities, health providers, financial and legal advisors, recreation and travel opportunities, and government and nonprofit agencies that participated.

I want to thank our hard-working staff for putting together these fantastic events, and also want to thank our gold sponsors: AARP Virginia and Brandywine Living at Potomac. We so appreciated Giant Pharmacy for providing a variety of vaccines and health screenings, and the Prevention of Blindness Society for offering glaucoma tests.

If you were unable to hear my interview of Tony Perkins of NBC News4 Today and MAJIC 102.3, we have posted a video of it on our website at www.thebeaconnewspapers.com/50expos.

We are already making plans for next fall’s Expos, and intend for them to be even bigger and better than this year’s. I hope to see all of this year’s attendees again next year, and many more of you who were not able to attend this year.

Writing awards

I also want to share with you the kudos the Beacon received in the 2023 Mature Media Awards competition, which “honor the nation’s best materials and programs for older adults.”

The Beacon won both a Silver and a Merit award in the Newsletter/Newspaper category. (The other Silver winners were both AARP publications.)

We also won numerous awards in the annual journalism competition of the North American Mature Publishers Association.

Once again, we won “Best of Show” and first place for “General Excellence” and “Special Section” (for our quarterly Housing and Homecare Options pull-out), as well as individual writing awards for selected features, profiles, arts reviews, travel stories, topical issue columns, editorials and personal essays.

Staff writers and freelancers so honored include: Catherine Brown, Dan Collins, Mark Dreisonstok, Glenda Booth, Bob Levey, and yours truly.

As we are entering the holiday season and the year draws to a close, I want to add here my thanks to, and admiration for, all of our staff, who work so diligently to produce multiple editions of the Beacon every month.

I’d like to thank them by name: Executive Vice President Gordon Hasenei; Art Director Kyle Gregory; Managing Editor Margaret Foster; Assistant Editor Ana Preger Hart; Advertising Representatives Dan Kelly, Steve Levin, M.K. Phillips and Alan Spiegel; Marketing & Operations Manager Ashley Griffin and, of course, my wife, the Beacon’s President and Associate Publisher, Judy Rosenthal.

We also are thrilled to welcome back our former Director of Operations, Roger King, who returned this year to become our Vice President of Operations.

The Beacon would not exist without all of their efforts, nor without you who read our publications each month. I offer my sincere appreciation to each of you.

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season and new year!