Cindy Benson dropped off an issue of The Andover Star recently. It was the first issue published, dated September 1988. You can see a PDF file of the whole issue on the Beacon’s Web site at AndoverBeacon.com/Andover-Star.

We asked Andover Star publisher Julie Mayo for some thoughts about Andover’s first newspaper in living memory. Her are her reflections:

The Andover Star was a gift from God! How else can one explain such a complicated process as a newspaper being successful? Many doors opened, special people with a variety of skills and talents came together with a vision, and townspeople were willing to take a monetary chance.

After teaching at AE/MS and learning about plans for a new school addition and realizing the need for communication within the town, it was a no-brainer that Andover needed a newspaper. I volunteered at the Franklin Journal Transcript, with the help of owner Ben Baldwin and editor Holly Bersaw. The old-fashioned Teletype machine, on which one could make no mistakes (as there was no way to correct them), made me realize one could use a computer and laser printer to create a newspaper.

I literally went through telephone books to generate a list of businesses for ads. There was a group in Andover who had already, unbeknownst to me, discussed a newspaper, so getting people together was not difficult.

Dennis Melchin from Salisbury, an artist, gave us an incentive by offering to create a masthead. I had grown up with the Winchester (Massachusetts) Star and thought of the five sections of Andover (East Andover, Andover, West Andover, Cilleyville, and Potter Place) making a five-pointed star. We thought paintings of buildings from each section would show Andover’s whole town.

My husband Don set up plywood tables in the basement at 65 Maple Street in East Andover. I bought a used laser printer, we heated glue guns and pasted the articles and hand-bordered ads onto sheets which were taken to a Plymouth printer of which Benny Benson of the Kearsarge Shopper knew.

Mike Pride from the Concord Monitor was helpful and directed me to Jim “Sandy” Bucknam of the Bow Times. Sandy said, “If you can spell, we would have a newspaper.”

Cindy Benson, Dane Loomer, and Laurie Zimmerman were great editors. Dane, and Sarah Will from Proctor Academy, interviewed poet laureate Donald Hall for the the first issue’s front page. Irene Jewett volunteered for circulation; Reggie Roy and Benny Makechnie were photographers.

In August 1988, we sent out a letter describing the newspaper to the town and asking for donations. Many had faith and replied, although more donations came in after the first issue was published in September.

The Andover Star served as a sounding board for the town, a forum, a watchdog. I remember laughing when people said it would be a tabloid, a rag sheet. We proved otherwise.

Dr. Jon Mishcon wrote monthly medical columns. Julia Philipson from Peter Christian’s in New London shared cooking tips. Kevin Poulin, who wanted to write works news, and Heather Makechnie agreed to cover various reports.

As the paper grew, we needed a central office. The upstairs rooms over what is now Ragged Mountain Physical Therapy were available. We rented the space. Along with a new computer, we had many volunteers to run production and the business aspect.

Two years later, Operation Desert Storm came. The advertising revenue dropped, there was an internal difference, and I saw the writing on the wall.

The shareholders agreed to stop production, and the last issue was sadly printed. We broke even financially, to the penny.

Some people wanted to buy The Andover Star, but such a blessing, run by volunteers, was not for sale. We give God the glory!

God has definitely graced Andover, and when The Andover Beacon became the next paper, the people demonstrated their love for their town. Thank you to everyone who helped make both successors to The Andover Star — the first Beacon, through 2002, and now the second Beacon, since 2004 — successful.