up front
We are celebrating the start of our 23rd year
Pat Bradford looking back over 269 fabulous issues of Wrightsville Beach Magazine.
Senior Editor/Publisher
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com 13
WBM
IN the next few pages, you’ll see a look back
at some of my favorite magazine covers and
spreads. The selection was a pretty daunting
task considering the 269 magazines to be
reviewed! How to pick one cover or one spread as
a favorite for the whole year? What a trip down
memory lane this was.
In the early years we had no idea what we
were doing, but we saw a real thirst in the
community for true journalism about people
and our lifestyle here on the fragile edge of
Eastern North Carolina. Readers loved the
photographs and stories about themselves and
their neighbors and the fascinating visitors
who flock here to find peace and prosperity.
It’s a winning formula that continues today.
Allison Potter came on board in the
summer of 2003, creating a body of
outstanding photography that documents
our life on the coast. That year, in a story
called “The Harley Rider Next Door,” we
staged photographs of motorcycles crossing
the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge with
Allison lying in the back of the station
wagon, hatch open — perhaps not the
smartest thing we’ve ever done. Allison and I have had some really crazy photo shoots over the years, including the time
that I got stuck in quick mud and she had to save my life.
Cissy Russell joined us in 2005 before we worked in the Landing. She creates compelling content for our advertisers, many
of whom have been with us for decades.
Art Director Shawn Best, who joined our team in 2012, points out that when she calls the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill for permission to use one of their archival photos, they consistently double-check to make sure their archives
include every magazine we have ever created. Other universities do the same. It’s that expressed faith in what we do that has
kept us always reaching to a higher standard all these years.
Our core team is rounded out by administration marvel Kimberly Graham, who also joined us in 2012.
Losing two sisters in a two-month period this fall reinforced my appreciation of the life that we live here. It is such a
blessing, one that I hope none of us ever takes for granted.
As I make my New Year’s resolution to spend more time with the people I love and the things I’m grateful for, the majority
of it is centered right here in New Hanover County, North Carolina.
We truly are a blessed people.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Happy New Year from
all of us to all of you.
Pat’s hair by Frank Potter, styled by Elizabeth Carroll and makeup by Regan Daughtry all from Bangz Hair Salon.
ALLISON POTTER