The Leader is asking the public to share stories about what makes the Twin Cities special – stories about the area’s people, places, businesses, industry and more.
Those stories about Festus and Crystal City will be used to produce a community profile magazine that will provide lots of important information about the area.
The Leader also encourages readers to send photos with those stories.
The deadline to submit the stories and photos is Feb. 21. To send in stories or photos, email them to news@myleaderpaper.com, along with contact information in case there are questions about the submissions.
The magazine’s publication date is scheduled for March 21, and it will be distributed to various public sites, such as restaurants and hotels. There will be no cost to obtain a copy.
The Leader will produce the publication for the Twin City Area Chamber of Commerce. In addition to the stories, the magazine will be chock-full of other useful information, said Barb Lowry, the chamber president.
The Festus Tourism Commission awarded a $2,040 grant to Lowry on behalf of the city of Festus, and the funds will be used to advertise in the publication.
“I think it’s something that will be of use not only to visitors to our area, but also something that our residents will be able to use to see the local services offered,” she said. “People who are traveling will be able to see what’s offered around town and all that’s happening in the growing community. This will be a great way to convey that.”
Mary Zebrowski, the chamber’s executive director, agreed that the community profile magazine will be a useful tool to highlight what the area has to offer.
“I think it has been much needed for a long time,” Zebrowski said. “Since I started working for the chamber almost three years ago, I’ve had many requests for maps and information about our area.”
Kayla Rhineberger, a member of the Leader advertising sales staff, said the magazine will promote chamber members and other businesses in the area.
“In the back of the magazine there will be an index of chamber members whether they advertise in the magazine or not,” she said. “It will have a calendar of all events in the Twin City area for the year. The magazine goes out in March, so the calendar will run from March 2025 to March 2026.
“They do not have to be a chamber member to advertise in the magazine.”
The Leader is also seeking advertisers for the magazine, which is a fundraiser for the chamber, Rhineberger said.
A portion of the revenue from the advertisements in the magazine going to the organization, she said.
Rhineberger said the plan is to widely distribute the community profile magazine in the Twin City area.
“We’ll print 5,000 copies,” Rhineberger said. “These will be distributed at places like doctors’ offices, hotels, restaurants.”
For advertising information, email Rhineberger at kayla@myleaderpaper.com.