Happy 19th birthday to The Swellesley Report

We started The Swellesley Report in December of 2005, which means our independent online news site is now 19 years old. It was one of the area’s first such sites to emerge with the rise of the internet and the demise of traditional newspapers (other local ones that started around then were Universal Hub in Boston and H2OTown in Watertown).

I started Swellesley as a side project, initially to learn about blogging and to offer a community service after moving to town. Over the years it became a small business, and in recent years it has become a full-time job for myself and my wife, Deborah. Our site now attracts well over 1 million views annually, has thousands of weekday email subscribers, and thousands of social media followers, including on Instagram.

We’ve had plenty of help along the way, including from:

• Business partners, including local advertisers as well as national ones (e.g., Google News Showcase)
• Readers who generously contribute money to help us cover operational costs, plus those who send news tips, photographs/videos, and articles (special thanks to Jen Bonniwell for school coverage and Darren Bovie for sports photos)
• Everyone who has helped us with stories, from town and school employees and volunteers to residents to local organizations
• The tireless team at Wellesley Media, whose recording of town meetings and events is an invaluable resource for us and others in town

Among our new features in 2024 were the addition of residential property sales data from Warren Group and weekly summaries of upcoming town government meetings with highlighted agenda items. Meteorologist Matthew Moll of  New England Weather Consulting now provides weekly forecasts for Wellesley.

We thank the many families as well who trusted us to run obituaries for their loved ones.

We have exciting plans for 2025, including on the fundraising front (more on this soon). We’ve also been accepted into a Boston University program through which we’ll be working with a student journalist for expanded coverage.

Thank you to everyone for supporting our work and for making Wellesley such a great place to live and work in, and to visit. We look forward to Year #20.