In the last years that we lived in the frozen north, we had a compelling dream.

It was to move back home to South Carolina, edit and publish a newspaper and live on Lake Murray.

You surely have had dreams yourself.

If they are big enough and you are passionate enough about them, I’ll bet you will realize them – just as we have done.

LAST WEEK I shared with you the story of how we came back to South Carolina, found a home on Lake Murray and acquired the little newspaper of our dreams, The Dispatch-News in Lexington.

The next 7 years were among the happiest and most challenging in our lives.

We restored the newspaper to financial health but left when we tired of trying to get along with our silent partners.

Then an unexpected thing happened.

Our friends in the community encouraged us to start another newspaper.

WE HAD BEEN involved in newspaper wars before. We had lost the last one and did not want to go through that again.

We dismissed the idea as a costly pipe dream. Lexington was not large enough to support 2 newspapers.

But when several community leaders offered to help us raise the money, it was clear they meant it.

We did some quick research and visited other publishers who had done what we considered doing. We called people at random and found a wider welcome to a new newspaper than we had expected.

With colleagues from The Dispatch-News, we launched the Lexington County Chronicle in October 1992. The competition told everyone in town we wouldn’t last 6 months.

OVER THE NEXT 11 years, our community was good to us. The Dispatch-News went through 3 changes in ownership and 7 editors. Their subscribers plunged from more than 7,500 when we left to less than 1,500.

Ours grew from zero to 7,000.

By January 2001, their advertising revenue was falling fast and the current owner called to tell us he had found a buyer. There was just one catch. The buyer wanted to buy both newspapers to merge them.

Sorry, we said, the Chronicle isn’t for sale.

“In that case,” he said, “would you make me an offer for the newspaper.”

We had already figured out what we thought was a generous offer. He accepted and asked if we could do it in 30 days.

His lawyer and ours worked fast and the sale was completed in 28 days.

That was 19 years ago.

CONDITIONS HAVE remained challenging. The internet has helped us reach 2,000 visitors a day on our web site but it has siphoned off many newspapers’ advertising.

Then covid-19 hit all of us last spring and even more advertising dried up.

We are grateful for the loyalty of many advertisers and readers. Your support has kept us going. In our 150th anniversary year, we look forward to serving you for many more years to come.

Next: Friendly ghosts

Chronicle Editor Emeritus Jerry Bellune is the author of more than 15 books. His next book, “The Art of Compelling Writing” is due before Christmas. Advance orders at $20 are being accepted at 803-331-6695.

Need some inspiration?

Are you dissatisfied with your life and looking for a new opportunity? Get a free copy of “Uncover Your Inner Sales Genius” at JerryBellune.net