Waggener High School - RingBrothersHistory.com

The Voice, July 25, 1974:After growth, a new systemThe Voice Newspapers this month celebrates its 25th year of publication.25th Anniversary IssueFounded July 14, 1949, by James K. Van Arsdale, the paper has been known for most of its years as The Voice of St. Matthews,has been sold twice and has grown to be one of the largest weeklies in Kentucky.Back in 1949, The Voice was a one-man operation, more of an advertising ‘shopper” than a traditional newspaper. Butwithin a year of its founding, an editor was on the payroll and it had become the dominant medium in and around what wasthen the new sixth-class City of St. Matthews.Van Arsdale, whose family lived in the Highlands section of Louisville, also established a second edition of The Voice,called The Voice of the Highlands, it was not, however, a financial Success.In April, 1952, Van Arsdale’s financial problems got the best of him and he sold the paper to Alden J. “Al” Schansberg, aNew Albany newspaper advertising director.Almost immediately, in October, 1952, Schansberg discontinued the Highlands edition, but for several years carried thatname in a secondary position on The Voice of St. Matthews masthead.During the 1950s and 1960s, Schansberg built the paper from a thin, largely free distribution paper to a full-fledged, paidcirculationweekly of state-wide reputation.Then in August, 1965, Schansberg began a new paper called the Middletown Mirror, circulated free in the Middletownarea. Three years later, the Lyndonarean was born, a tabloid containing some local news and feature stories sent to allhomes in the Lyndon area. Later these were merged to form The Suburban Mirror, which circulated through the easternpart of Jefferson County until 1973.In March, 1965, Tom Jones, publisher of Jeffersontown’s 63 year-old weekly paper, The Jeffersonian, decided to sell out toSchansberg. He said he found it impossible to get adequate help and that an accident which made his wife an invalid motivatedhim to sell.At that point the Voice of St. Matthews was merged with the Jeffersonian, and the result was renamed The Voice-Jeffersonian. It was published in two editions.In April, 1971, after 19 years as publisher, Schansberg sold his company to Bruce B. VanDusen, a native of Michigan whohad spent 12 years as a s reporter and editorial writer on major daily newspapers.Under the new publisher the paper discontinued the Suburban Mirror, organized a carrier delivery system, changed frompaid to controlled distribution and boosted circulation from an estimated 6,000 circulation to 34,750 as of this month.In addition, the paper has added two new editions, so that, in effect, four separate papers now are distributed:One for the St. Matthews area and others for Middletown, Jeffersontown and Hikes Point. Advertisers may purchase spacein any combination of these editions.How it was—really—back when by Emil Michael AunIt is a quiet, rainy Sunday here in Arlington, Virginia, and for the past several hours I havebeen having a good time. I have been reading the July 15 and July 22, 1954, editions of TheVoice, containing the history of St. Matthews I wrote 20 years ago for the paper’s fifth anniversary.I will never forget the night I wrote that story. St. Matthews was having one of the hottestsummers in memory -- I believe there were 90 days in 1954 when the temperature went over90 degrees:The Voice office was on the second floor of a two-story building in Colony Way then, acrossthe parking lot from the A & P supermarket on Shelbyville Road. The temperature was over100 degrees as I sat down to write and it stayed that way for 36 straight hours.By 5:30 everyone else on The Voice staff had gone home but I went on writing late into thenight. Everything I touched was warmer than my body and the copy paper stuck to my hand.We had no air conditioning, just a small window fan blowing 100-degree air across my face.By 9 pm my shirt was off, by 10 my shoes, and by midnight I was down to my shorts, stillhacking away. I finished at 2 am after about 16 straight hours of writing, and the material wasPublished just as it came from my typewriter. We had no time to edit or rewrite it. It was inthe printer’s hands by 7 am.