29 years is a long time for anything. In this challenging magazine industry, 29 years is an eternity. After almost three decades, 310 issues, 24 community parades, thousands of weekly E-newsletters (with 21,000+ email subscribers), a website, a Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter, I am retiring. In fact, my official last day will be June 29, my 60th birthday! Since 1993, I have been publishing articles about my neighbors—volunteers, artists and advertisers, clubs and community leaders, musicians and moms. The EAST COBBER front cover always featured those people in East Cobb County making this area an even better place to live.
The EAST COBBER became well-known for its special sections, such as, our Camp Guide, Pet Guide, Preschool Guide, Private School Guide—and more! It was always my intention to provide useful and relevant information that East Cobb residents could not find anywhere else and that focused exclusively on East Cobb.
I hope you have enjoyed reading the EAST COBBER as much as I have enjoyed putting each edition together. After so many years of meeting readers and business owners, I am reminded everyday of how many really nice people there are in this community. East Cobb has so many residents who take the initiative to help out, to share their opinions, and/or talents, in order to make East Cobb County a better place to live. The annual EAST COBBER Parade & Festival is another example of neighbors coming together to celebrate our great community, and for me, as the producer/ director of the parade, I have been able to witness firsthand the genuine kindness, generosity, and cooperation East Cobbers demonstrate to make what became the largest parade in all of Cobb County such a rousing success. Sadly, this annual event will not be produced this year.
I may have put the magazine out, but it belongs to the East Cobb community. Special credit goes to the East Cobbers that called me to discuss story ideas, submit articles, and to advertise. In a world of conglomerates and sensational journalism, your kind comments and constructive criticisms inspired me to continue my work as publisher of a truly grassroots publication that promoted the positive.
Thank you to you, reading this, for coming here to share, to listen, to connect with me and your neighbors. It will take a long time for me to process the rareness of this connection, and the feeling that it’s over. But it’s not over. The changes people create in one another do not go away. You made EAST COBBER with me, and its spirit will live on in whatever comes next for us all.
All the best,
Cynthia M. Rozzo
Founder l Publisher
cynthia@eastcobber.com
P.S. If there is anyone out there that wants to carry on the mission of the magazine and/ or the annual parade and festival, feel free to email me at cynthia@eastcobber.com.
This originally appeared as the Publisher’s Note in the May/June issue. Click HERE to read the whole issue.
Read an interview with Cynthia HERE by East Cobb News.
