Mount Vernon — The paper you're reading, the Mount Vernon Gazette is one of 15 papers published by the independent, locally owned Local Media Connection LLC, serving the suburbs of Metropolitan Washington in Northern Virginia and Potomac, Md.

Our flagship paper, the Alexandria Gazette Packet, is one of the oldest continuously publishing papers in the country, beginning publication in 1784.

This spring, our papers won some very special awards, including the Virginia Press Association Award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service, and the Fairfax County Media Partnership Award, along with dozens of others.

We're proud of our commitment to community service, and delighted when it results in awards. We have staff and contributors here at the Connection with remarkable talent and experience, far greater than one might expect. While the last few years have brought many challenges to the newspaper business everywhere, affecting us as well, we continue to publish 15 distinct papers every week that serve their communities in distinct ways.

As local, weekly newspapers, the Connection's mission is to bring the local news you need, to gather information about the best things in and near your community, to advocate for community good, to provide a forum for dialogue on local concerns, and to celebrate and record milestones and events in community and people's lives.

Here in our Newcomers and Community Guide, we've included an insider's look at the parks, plus details of how to vote in the upcoming elections. Many voters will be surprised when they look at the map on our elections page and discover that their Congressional district has changed.

We invite newcomers and long-time residents alike to let us know how we're doing and let us know what is going on in your part of the community. If you have questions or ideas, send us an e-mail, contact us on Facebook or send us a tweet. You can even call.

We invite you to send letters to the editor or to send an e-mail with feedback about our coverage. You can read and comment on our stories online www.ConnectionNewspapers.com.

We want to know if someone in your family or your community published a book, started a business, became an Eagle Scout, raised money for a good cause, accomplished some feat like running a marathon or having art included in an art show. We publish photos and notes of a variety of personal milestones and community events, including births, engagements, weddings, anniversaries, awards and obituaries. We are also interested in events at your church, mosque, synagogue, community center, pool, school, club, etc. Email us a photo and a note about the event. Be sure to include the names of all the people who are in a photo, and say when and where the photo was taken. We also publish notes about news and events from local businesses. Notes about openings, new employees, anniversaries are welcome. It is especially important to us to let people know about events ahead of time in our calendar of events. We appreciate getting notice at least two weeks ahead of the event, and we encourage photos.

Contact:

Alexandria Gazette, Mount Vernon Gazette, gazette@connectionnewspapers.com

Arlington Connection, arlington@connectionnewspapers.com

Centre View (Centreville, Chantilly), centreview@connectionnewspapers.com

Vienna/Oakton Connection, vienna@connectionnewspapers.com

McLean Connection, mclean@connectionnewspapers.com

Great Falls Connection, greatfalls@connectionnewspapers.com

Reston Connection, reston@connectionnewspapers.com

Oak Hill/Herndon Connection, herndon@connectionnewspapers.com

Springfield Connection, springfield@connectionnewspapers.com

Burke Connection, burke@connectionnewspapers.com

Fairfax Connection, fairfax@connectionnewspapers.com

Fairfax Station/Clifton/Lorton Connection, lorton@connectionnewspapers.com

Potomac Almanac, almanac@connectionnewspapers.com

Advertising, email sales@connectionnewspapers.com or call 703-778-9431.

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/ConnectionNewspapers

Read It Before It Even Hits the Press

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Sign up at www.ConnectionNewspapers.com/subscribe, or email your name, your snail-mail address, email address and the paper or papers you would like to receive to GoingGreen@connectionnewspapers.com. (We will not share your personal information.)

— Mary Kimm, mkimm@connectionnewspapers.com, @marykimm