Happy Birthday to Us, Cheers to You!

It's our 1st Patchiversary! 

Can you believe it? Peters Patch introduced the Patch Media network to western Pennsylvania one year ago today. Since then, our readership has grown exponentially—for which I thank you. The Peters Township community has fully supported Patch, its mission and I—as an editor, a writer and a neighbor.

We now have 13 Patch sites across the Pittsburgh region—nearly 900 nationwide.

Hearing residents praise the site at Community Day in June was unlike anything I’ve experienced—we’ve reached homes, offices and businesses regarding hot-button issues like  and heartwarming stories like the one of .

Recently, we’ve developed a mentorship with Nicole Sitler’s  journalism class—five of her students blog for Patch. They are superb writers with an enthusiastic drive and willingness to learn. It’s obvious they love where they live and want to embrace it through their writing.

Sitler said Tuesday that her students typically get credit for their Patch articles.

“You are giving these students an awesome opportunity to impress college recruiters,” she said. She then praised the partnership saying, “it’s a pretty big accomplishment.”

Here are some of the comments we've received in the past year: 

"Great article. Thanks for the promotion and tweets!" -Scott Blasey, The Clarks

“Andrea, Thank you for the outstanding coverage of Operation Safety Net and the activities of the McMurray Rotary Club. I just woke up to an e-mail from Alan Monroe from ShelterBox USA, not sure how he found out about it already...but he said "Awesome Job!" PetersPatch is a really fantastic idea and is being done really well. I strongly believe it is important to get local people in every community in good communication with each other so they can combine their interests and do good things for themselves and others.” –Steve Morreale, MD

“Thanks so much for Patch’s lively coverage before and after Brew Fest. You all are a joy to work with and we really look forward to working with you in the future!” –Laura Pace Lilley, Mt. Lebanon Magazine

“Thanks for the great article! Your effort is much appreciated.” –John A. Hancherick, InLineAdz

“Andrea, Great Job…we appreciate your enthusiasm and assistance in getting the community to know about our offering and how it will assist them to grow their businesses.” –Joe Grushkin, InLineAdz

“I’m not really a local news type of guy…I watch national news. I can tell you the prime ministers from the Eastern Bloc nations, but I cannot tell you who is on PT school board. I really enjoy getting the daily posts.” –John A. Timney, resident

“awesome article about the boy with pcd. very touching, and very informative. both news and human interest. you approached a heart-wrenching topic with appropriate optimism, and without unnecessarily putting the kid "on display." just wanted to let you know i was thoroughly impressed!” –Sarah Beth (Rem) Martin, Patch contributor 

"Hey Michael, Thanks for attending the Keenage Korner celebration...and the great article you wrote. When visiting our Facebook page, I noticed that Peters Patch is also providing PR for our store events. Please pass on my appreciation for that service. You're doing a great job of promoting local businesses and keeping the community aware of all that Peters Township has to offer! Thanks again and have a "sunny" day!" -Gina Snyder,

"Peters Patch looks great! I'm learning so much from it and YOUR efforts! Keep up the good work." -Myra Oleynik, librarian 

"Andrea, Another wonderful article about the library, this time featuring the Children's Dept. I especially enjoyed the video!" -Carrie Weaver, resident

"Great article Andrea. It's nice to read accurate reporting. I will be visiting Peters Patch more often." -Jet Miskis, resident

"I've been promoting Patch like crazy, I love it. You just open your laptop and all the latest news is right there!!" -Tara Atkins, resident

"We love all of the great events & articles that Peters Patch is posting! Keep up the good work!" -Vintage Real Estate LLC, via Facebook

"Thanks for the info. I was on there this morning and the site has really evolved and looks nice. I’ll make it a regular read from now on." -Olive Conn, secretary

"Job Well Done yesterday on your EXCELLENT reporting of the true facts of what ended up being a tragedy." -Ted Taylor, via Twitter

"I have enjoyed your articles particularly those involving local 'breaking news.' Thanks for the good work." -Jon, resident

"Patch is the 21st century communication tool! I am thrilled to have it in PT! :-)." -Ted Taylor, resident

"What a great newspaper you have! I love it! Very good research and great writing!" -Ceane O'Hanlon-Lincoln, local author

"Also, I spoke with a small group after the meeting. One person said Peters Patch is a hit! He said he and a number of people read Peters Patch while commuting on the trolley each morning. A few other people standing nearby said they do the same thing. You've definitely got readership and followers - good work!" -Suzanne Kennedy, resident 

"Good Job! Thank you...you're a wonderful writer." -Sandy Gregg, resident/newly-elected school board member

"Keep up the good work, my (hockey) team loved your paper last year." -Mike Amelio, via Twitter

Here are our 10 most-clicked on articles (based on numerical data) since our launch date: 

1) (July 2011)

2) (May 2011) 

3) (May 2011) 

4) (June 2011) 

5) (June 2011) 

6) (July 2011) 

7)  (August 2011) 

8) (May 2011) 

9)  (Nov. 2011) 

10) (Aug. 2011)  

New to the site? Revisit our article to learn how you can get the most out of Peters Patch. If you haven't already, please "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

A sincere thank you to our readers and Peters Township residents—for without you, we couldn't survive. Salute!

Do you have a favorite Peters Patch story? Tell us in the comments!