photos by Lisa Konicki

(l-r) Stan Cardinal, president, Cardinal Honda, Alexis Ann, editor & publisher, The Resident, Bruce Morrow, general manager, Valenti Subaru, May Stanavich, and Barbara Stillman, property manager, Atlantic Beach Casino Resort, Misquamicut celebrate the Grand Openings of Valenti Toyota and Valenti Subaru on Thursday, October 14th.

Toyota presented Bob Valenti, owner, Valenti Auto Mall, a Katana sword similar to those used by Samurai Warriors, symbolizing the strength, quality and integrity of Valenti Toyota, a new state-of-the-art facility on Langworthy Road, Westerly.

Bruce Morrow, general manager, Valenti Subaru, admires the handiwork of his daughter, Katie Morrow, who baked this cake replica of the all new state-of-the-art Valenti Toyota dealership and Valenti Subaru’s new home… Langworthy Road, Westerly.

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Alexis Ann, November 1990

by Jessica Warzeniak

On November 1, 1990, the first issue of the Resident hit newsstands reaching over 125,000 readers in the Groton-Stonington and Charlestown-Westerly areas. That year, Iraq invaded Kuwait starting the Gulf War, smoking was banned on domestic airplanes, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit and we were in the midst of an economic recession. Yet, Alexis knew it was the perfect time to start a “good news only” newspaper.

This year, we celebrate the 20th year of publishing the Resident with a look back at our roots.

Read the articles below for a flash back in time.

The cover of the very first Resident. November 1, 1990

THE DAY,  SATURDAY,  NOVEMBER 3,  1990    A5

New magazine offers ad alternative

By DAVID COLLINS
Day Business Writer

Stonington - Alexis decided that these bad economic times might be the best time to open the new business she was considering and late last summer began making plans.

This week, the first edition of her new biweekly magazine, the Resident, returned from the publishers, a 24-page mixture of recipes, Hollywood gossip, advice columns and local advertising.

It is the advertising – she says the issue sold out – that has encouraged Alexis that she chose the right time to start her new venture. Business people, more concerned than ever about cutting budgets, are pleased to have a low-cost advertising alternative, she said.

“We think we are offering them something they can’t get elsewhere: inexpensive, cost-effective advertising,” she said.
Alexis owns an advertising agency, Alexis Advertising Inc., which she has operated here for the last nine years [since February 1982]….

Planning started in August, and by October 1 she and another full-time salesperson were making sales calls to fill space in the inaugural issue. In just two weeks, they sold all the space for the first 24-page issue, much of it to multiple-issue contracts.

“In just two weeks, we sold $30,000 worth of advertising and that’s for something that does not even exist yet,” she said.

The Resident will be published every other week and will include and editorial mixture of syndicated service columns and local copy. There will be an emphasis on food and entertainment writing and no hard news reporting, said Alexis.
“It will be all fun, nothing depressing, nothing about the economy,” she said. “We want to get people primed and in a mood to buy.”

Alexis said she is putting out the magazine primarily with a part-time staff of freelancers. Right now, it is being manually pasted up and sent out to be typeset, but they have purchased desktop publishing equipment and plan to do their own typesetting for future issues.

The magazine will be free and distributed at retail drop points: stores, restaurants, grocery stores, liquor stores and waiting rooms. The first printing will have 50,000 copies, she said.

The circulation area will include Groton and Stonington, as well as,  Westerly and Charlestown, R.I.

If the magazine is successful and grow, Alexis said, she will gradually begin to increase the number of pages. She may eventually expand the circulation area west of the Thames River, into New London and Waterford. [Today’s Resident reaches along the coast from Old Saybrook to Charlestown and north into the country in Colchester and Norwich.]
She said she may also consider going from a biweekly to a weekly publication schedule. For now, though, she said she is encouraged by the fact that so many of her first customers bought advertising for multiple issues, for which they get special discounts.

The Sun,  Westerly, R.I.,  Wednesday, October 31, 1990  7

New local paper hits stands today

STONINGTON – “The Resident,” a new local newspaper-magazine, hits area newsstands today.

Published by Alexis of Alexis Advertising in Stonington, the free bi-weekly paper will be available at 500 businesses and grocery stores from Charlestown to Groton.

Alexis said she began the project because she saw “a gap in the local advertising market.” The first issue is 24 pages long with 60 percent advertising.

The rest of the paper is a combination of syndicated columns on cooking and Hollywood gossip, and some features on local activities.

“It’s like a local ‘People’ magazine,” Alexis said this morning. “It’s fun and entertaining with no hard news. No Saudi Arabia, no politics.”

Alexis, who will distribute 50,000 of the newspaper this afternoon, said she is expecting a readership of 125,000.
“We have something for everyone from 18 to 102,” she says.

Alexis said she is targeting local residents. But she expects the tourists to pick up the paper, too. “They like to know what the locals are doing,” she said.

The first issue will feature an article on Meryl Streep, whose parents live locally, Alexis said. The next issue will highlight volunteer organizations in the area.

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(l-r) First Selectman Paul Formica, East Lyme, poses with the Niantic Community Church Chili Cook-off Winners: Chris Bono, Best Overall, Christine Bono, Best Non-Beef, Charity Kennedy, Best Vegitarian, Evan King, “Paul’s Choice Chili,” Paul Formica and Don Foster, Second Place Overall.

Niantic Community Church announces winners of its 3rd Annual Chili Cook-Off held on October 16. With 16 entries guests had a tough job trying to discern the best of the best. During the two hour tasting period folks were entertained by emcee Chris Deveau who did a fabulous job stirring up the competition and a little laughter as chili lovers perused one crock after another of the spicy culinary delight. John Wood’s endless acoustic and vocal talent kept everyone in great spirits and East Lyme’s First Selectman Paul Formica graced the crowd with his poised, political presence.

Ultimately, the Selectman was slated to choose a “Paul’s Choice Chili” and 12 year old Evan King of East Lyme was the proud recipient of the title with his, “Some Like It Hot & Some Like It Not” chili. Winner in the Best Vegetarian category was Charity Kennedy, standing in for chef Christy Hammond representing the Children’s Museum of Southeastern Connecticut with their “Vintage 70’s Vegan Chili.” Christine Bono of Gales Ferry reigned supreme in the Best Non-Beef category with her Chicken Chili and Don Foster from Post Road Market, East Lyme, took Second Place Overall with his Italian Chili. Savouring the very best for last, was Christine Bono’s husband Chris, winning Best Overall with his St. Louis Chili.

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David Yarnold, president, Audubon Society, and B. Holt Thrasher, chairman, Audubon Society, presented Donal O’Brien with the prestigious Audubon Award on October 2 in Greenwich.

The National Audubon Society named Donal O’Brien as the 51st recipient of its prestigious Audubon Medal, in recognition of his dedication to advancing conservation on a global scale for five decades.

A giant of conservation, Donal served in leadership roles in numerous organizations, including 25 years on the Board of the National Audubon Society, 15 of them as Chairman.  In this role he was largely responsible for introducing a globally significant conservation initiative to the Western hemisphere: the Important Bird Area program.  To date, 2,500 places across the United States, encompassing more than 300 million acres, have been identified as vital to bird survival.

“Few Americans have contributed as much to conservation as Donal O’Brien,” said B. Holt Thrasher, Audubon Chairman.  “He not only introduced critical new conservation initiatives to the western hemisphere, he also provided some of the steadiest and inspired leadership that Audubon ever had.”

Donal’s reach and influence within the conservation community is legend.  In CT, he was appointed as Chairman of the Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality by three governors, and also served as Commissioner of the CT State Board of Fisheries and Game.  Elsewhere, he served as Chairman of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, former Vice-Chairman of the Board of Governors of The Nature Conservancy, and Former President of the International Council for Bird Preservation.

“Before joining Audubon I learned much about the huge role that Donal O’Brien played in increasing its reach and influence across the US.  I was even more amazed at how he managed so many responsibilities so well,” said David Yarnold, Audubon President.

Donal managed his conservation duties while leading a career as partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in New York City.  He was chief legal counsel to the Rockefeller Family & Associates, and President of the Rockefeller Trust Company.

Previous winners of the Audubon medal include Robert Redford, E. O Wilson, Roger Tory Peterson, Ted Turner, William Conway, Rachel Carson, Walt Disney, Stewart Udall, Julie Packard and Richard Louv.

Donal was honored at a dinner October 2 in Greenwich.

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