Let us preserve your history

The Carrollton News-Democrat and Trimble Banner are the papers of record for Carroll and Trimble counties, respectively.

What does that mean, “paper of record?” It can mean several things but most importantly it means the editions of the News-Democrat and Banner document history. And the have. Our editions are preserved and available to be searched as far back as 1901 on newspapers.com, anywhere, any time. You can also access them at the Carroll County and Trimble County public libraries.

Newspapers have always recognized our duty to document history and have diligently worked to record events, including your events. In years past, births, engagements, weddings and obituaries were all published. But lately all but the obituaries are largely missing in our editions. Wedding announcements, engagement announcements and birth announcements are rarely being submitted for publication.

People may feel they no longer need the newspapers to announce these events but what about preserving the historical event? If it’s not published in the paper of record, it’s not included in the historical record created with each edition. How will future descendants know about your most important life events? How will you preserve your announcement for them?

The newspaper of record has an established process of recording history and will continue to record history. It’s what we do. Make sure your most important life events are recorded there as well.

What’s more, it’s free. Every birth announcement, wedding and engagement can be submitted and published free of charge. Sure, we have some restrictions because of space limitations for what can be published for free, but for a reasonable fee you can add as much as you choose.

Almost everyone has looked up their ancestry. Make sure your important life events are there for the future. Publish them in the newspaper of record. Visit www.madisoncourier.com/carroll_news_democrat/site/forms/ to submit your life events to the Carrollton News-Democrat and www.madisoncourier.com/trimble_banner/site/forms/ to submit your life events to the Trimble Banner. The forms can be found under the “Submissions” heading.

Mike Weafer is the group publisher for the Kentucky-Indiana-Tennessee region of the Paxton Media Group, the parent company of The Carrollton News-Democrat and Trimble Banner.