By Joel Keller
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
If you ever wanted to know what’s going on at Cedar Crest, there aren’t many better ways than picking up the monthly copy of the community’s newsletter, Mountain Matters.
“It’s a good way to get information out to the residents because we know it’s very well read,” says Margaret Quinn, Cedar Crest’s director of resident life and editor of Mountain Matters.
A well-oiled machine
Quinn oversees a staff comprised entirely of Cedar Crest residents. The 20 staff writers, reporters, and editors work furiously each month to cover every aspect of what’s going on at the community, from social events to reviews of performances at the performing arts center to articles about neighbors doing interesting things.
Every story is edited by Jack Fisher, the assistant editor and the highest-ranking resident on the staff. “My job is to be sure that when I turn Mountain Matters over to the editor it’s the best I can do at the time,” he says. “[Margaret] reads it right through and sees if there are any glaring errors. When it goes to her, it’s in the best possible condition for publication.”
When Quinn took over the role of editing the newsletter earlier this year from her predecessor, Peter Cataldi, she realized right away that she had something good on her hands. “The whole paper really impressed me. Peter let me know about the fact that the residents really run it, and I oversee it. I was very happy to find out I didn’t have to write anything,” she laughs.
Twice a month Quinn runs an editorial meeting where staff members throw out story ideas for the upcoming issue. The only Erickson staff members at the meeting are Quinn and her assistant Heather Devine, who helps with the newsletter’s layout and artwork. Quinn is also a story gatekeeper of sorts, letting residents with ideas know whether the story fits in with the editorial mission of Mountain Matters.