Message from Mayor Stephen Dalina - Star Ledger

To me, the newspaper is more than paper and ink. It is an experience.

Growing up on Crows Mill Road in Fords, there was always stiff competition between my three brothers and me about who would get to The Star-Ledger first when it dropped on our stoop each morning. We would quickly tear through the sections, excited for whatever awaited.

It saddens me to think that The Star-Ledger will publish its last print issue on Feb. 2.

The Times of Trenton and the South Jersey Times will also cease printing. All the news will be available online, at NJ.com, for the cost of a subscription.

This is a major moment for me. Many don’t know that I am an avid collector of old newspapers. I have, for example, an issue of a newspaper chronicling the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, as well as other clips reporting on Presidents killed in office.

I save issues of newspapers marking the end of World War I and World War II, as well as the sinking of the Titanic. I have the newspapers on the days my two sons were born and of other major events in the life and times of New Jersey.

For many of us, our relationship with the newspaper was intimate. It has always been there for us, and it told us about world events, Trenton news and even what was happening in nearby New Brunswick, where my father was the deputy director of the Middlesex County freeholder board.

To me, the greatest time of the week was early Sunday morning when the Sunday Star-Ledger would be dropped on the family doorstep.

I would spend my entire Sunday morning with this glorious production - those are hours I cherish as time well spent.

I even recall my days at Rutgers University, where I would head to the library on College Avenue and enjoy the solace of reading newspapers from all over New Jersey and beyond. (Thank you, Alexander Library!)

With diminishing traditional paper and ink publications being printed, I am proud that our municipality publishes its own newspaper, the Monroe News, that is mailed to all homes in town three times a year. It is my hope you enjoy the printed piece, as well as the tremendous value of turning each page to find something new and informative. I also hope that you access important information by signing up for our electronic newsletter at www.monroetwp.com.

So, yes, Feb. 2 will be a sad day, indeed.

We are collectively bidding farewell to the end of the Newark Daily Advertiser, the city’s first daily newspaper, founded in 1832. It eventually became the Newark Star-Eagle, which then merged in 1939 with the Newark Ledger to become the modern-day Star-Ledger. Such amazing history, now as faded as last month’s broadsheet in the recycling bin.

But, alas, we must all embrace change.

Nothing, however, can replace those magical Sunday mornings.