Published: Sunday, December 28, 2008
Publisher of Camano e-mail newsletter keeps islanders informed
CAMANO ISLAND -- Like any news editor, Roy Lesher was busy during the recent snow storm.
His readers needed to know about road conditions, school closures, meeting cancellations and how to care for pets in the cold weather.
Unlike most editors, though, Lesher didn't have to wonder about home delivery in the snow.
His text-only newsletter is e-mailed twice a week to more than 400 subscribers on Camano Island. He figures the circulation of the Camano Island Activities Newsletter is more like 1,500, owing to the people who forward it on to their friends, co-workers and neighbors.
Lesher isn't trying to compete with the weekly newspaper in Stanwood or the daily in Everett, he said. The newsletter is simply an attempt to make sure people on the island know what's going on in a hurry.
Lesher, 69, hopes to put himself out of his volunteer job in a few years and let other media take over the job of alerting island residents in emergency situations, he said.
In the meantime, he is happy to get the word out about fundraisers, festivals and fairs.
The newsletter, which has been around for about three years, is especially helpful to community groups, Lesher said.
The Mabana Flames ladies group sells Christmas wreaths each December to support the volunteer fire department on the south end of the island. This year, because of the newsletter, the wreaths were gone within days, Lesher said.
"It used to be that sandwich boards were the best way to let Camano islanders know about events and emergencies," Lesher said. "The e-mailed newsletter has been very successful. It gives us a sense of community and a sense of security."
Lesher also has written about issues such as septic system care, giving tips that all Camano residents need to know, said Tammy Finn, who is active in Camano Action for a Rural Environment.
"Roy is amazing. He'll do anything he can to help out," Finn said. "We depend on his information and his kind heart."
A member of the Stanwood Lions Club, Lesher was instrumental in forming the sight and hearing screening program for the Stanwood-Camano School District. He also is on the board of Josephine Sunset Home in Stanwood and is a member of Camano Island Chamber of Commerce.
Service is something that's been a part of most of Lesher's life.
A native Virginian, Lesher joined the Air Force after graduating in 1961 from the College of William and Mary.
His assignments in communications and electronics took him to Taiwan, Korea, Spain, Turkey and the Middle East, as well as several in the states.
Lesher spent four years in the Pentagon in an office that served the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then was assigned to the White House communication agency office in the mid-1970s. There he worked providing radio and telephone communication for the executive staff.
It was a turbulent time, Lesher said.
Following the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon was in his last six months in office.
"It sounds like heady stuff," Lesher said. "But it truly was a routine military assignment."
Lesher was just a few feet away in 1975 when Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme tried to shoot President Gerald Ford, and 17 days later he was helping with the presidential motorcade when Sara Jane Moore made the second attempt on the president's life.
"I had trouble with getting people to travel with me for a while after that," Lesher said.
When he left the Air Force in 1985, Lesher went back to school to earn graduate degrees in international studies and business administration from Old Dominion University in Virginia.
He ended up working for an industrial pump company as an international technical consultant.
Lesher met his wife, Sally, online when he did a Web search for people who share his birthday, Feb. 6, 1939. Her name came up and they began to correspond. When he retired, he moved to Washington state. He and Sally, a legal transcriber, married about 12 years ago.
"Internet relationships do work out," Lesher said with a laugh.
Together they moved to Camano Island, where they like to entertain children and grandchildren.
At home, Lesher figures he checks his e-mail every hour, on the lookout for submissions to the newsletter. It's a busy life.
"It would be easier to work to make money," Lesher said. "I got weekends off back then."
Lesher can be contacted at RoyLesher@aol.com.
Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.
His readers needed to know about road conditions, school closures, meeting cancellations and how to care for pets in the cold weather.
Unlike most editors, though, Lesher didn't have to wonder about home delivery in the snow.
His text-only newsletter is e-mailed twice a week to more than 400 subscribers on Camano Island. He figures the circulation of the Camano Island Activities Newsletter is more like 1,500, owing to the people who forward it on to their friends, co-workers and neighbors.
Lesher isn't trying to compete with the weekly newspaper in Stanwood or the daily in Everett, he said. The newsletter is simply an attempt to make sure people on the island know what's going on in a hurry.
Lesher, 69, hopes to put himself out of his volunteer job in a few years and let other media take over the job of alerting island residents in emergency situations, he said.
In the meantime, he is happy to get the word out about fundraisers, festivals and fairs.
The newsletter, which has been around for about three years, is especially helpful to community groups, Lesher said.
The Mabana Flames ladies group sells Christmas wreaths each December to support the volunteer fire department on the south end of the island. This year, because of the newsletter, the wreaths were gone within days, Lesher said.
"It used to be that sandwich boards were the best way to let Camano islanders know about events and emergencies," Lesher said. "The e-mailed newsletter has been very successful. It gives us a sense of community and a sense of security."
Lesher also has written about issues such as septic system care, giving tips that all Camano residents need to know, said Tammy Finn, who is active in Camano Action for a Rural Environment.
"Roy is amazing. He'll do anything he can to help out," Finn said. "We depend on his information and his kind heart."
A member of the Stanwood Lions Club, Lesher was instrumental in forming the sight and hearing screening program for the Stanwood-Camano School District. He also is on the board of Josephine Sunset Home in Stanwood and is a member of Camano Island Chamber of Commerce.
Service is something that's been a part of most of Lesher's life.
A native Virginian, Lesher joined the Air Force after graduating in 1961 from the College of William and Mary.
His assignments in communications and electronics took him to Taiwan, Korea, Spain, Turkey and the Middle East, as well as several in the states.
Lesher spent four years in the Pentagon in an office that served the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then was assigned to the White House communication agency office in the mid-1970s. There he worked providing radio and telephone communication for the executive staff.
It was a turbulent time, Lesher said.
Following the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon was in his last six months in office.
"It sounds like heady stuff," Lesher said. "But it truly was a routine military assignment."
Lesher was just a few feet away in 1975 when Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme tried to shoot President Gerald Ford, and 17 days later he was helping with the presidential motorcade when Sara Jane Moore made the second attempt on the president's life.
"I had trouble with getting people to travel with me for a while after that," Lesher said.
When he left the Air Force in 1985, Lesher went back to school to earn graduate degrees in international studies and business administration from Old Dominion University in Virginia.
He ended up working for an industrial pump company as an international technical consultant.
Lesher met his wife, Sally, online when he did a Web search for people who share his birthday, Feb. 6, 1939. Her name came up and they began to correspond. When he retired, he moved to Washington state. He and Sally, a legal transcriber, married about 12 years ago.
"Internet relationships do work out," Lesher said with a laugh.
Together they moved to Camano Island, where they like to entertain children and grandchildren.
At home, Lesher figures he checks his e-mail every hour, on the lookout for submissions to the newsletter. It's a busy life.
"It would be easier to work to make money," Lesher said. "I got weekends off back then."
Lesher can be contacted at RoyLesher@aol.com.
Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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