Six years gone and the dream lives on

It’s now been six years since the first issue of the Independent Register rolled off the presses and was distributed across CravenCounty.

A dream of three budding journalists fulfilled after three days of writing, editing and designing. The product of blood, sweat, tears and ink.

Sadly the life of the alternative newspaper was to be short. Five months to be exact. Nine issues in (mostly) glorious black and white.

But in 2008, new life was breathed into the dream when the current blog which you are reading was launched.

Four years ago…

Four years ago, something new came to the “Bear City.”

House Ad on the back page of the first issue.

Four years ago, the dream of three young men came true.

Four years ago, the first issue of the Independent Register hit countertops, wire racks and crude news boxes across Craven County.

It was the result of a college camaraderie, several months of planning and an entire weekend with almost no sleep.

It was a small paper: Eight pages-two sections with color fronts. But in this case, size didn’t matter.

The three-man staff of Corey Friedman, Eric Voliva and William R. Toler took every picture, designed every page and wrote every article, with the exception of a short article from friend and frequent house guest Danelle Wylder,  a front page story by CCC student Charlotte Bird about a visit to the college from Frank Capra, Jr. and a pro-marijuana op-ed by New Bern High School senior Amanda DaSilva.

Reflection: An inside look

By William R. Toler

As the third anniversary of the first issue approaches, nostalgia sets in.

Here is a look back…at a look inside Fort Insanity…and the pinnacle of publication of Craven County’s (former) alternative news source:

It’s 3 o’clock in the morning.

There are three computers on.

Behind three desks littered with notebooks, miscellaneous papers and caffeinated beverages sit three sleep-deprived young men.

For the co-publishers of the Independent Register, this is a common occurrence.