New London Newspapers

It is November 1960, and the big news around New London is that the Journal has been sold. Ed Wessel had been the publisher/editor since 1923. The reason given was Ed’s recent ill health.

The Southeast Iowa Publishing company headed by Richard and Virginia Goughnour would be taking over. They had been associated with the Mediapolis New Era since 1956 and would continue to operate it too.

The Goughnours didn’t keep the Journal long, and it seemed that the history of “revolving door” owners was again repeating itself. Enter Duane Carlton Griggs.

  Buy Photo

Griggs had started his newspaper career as a Linotype operator after his military service in World War II was complete. From 1953 to 1959, he published the West Branch Times. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen dated Oct. 2, 1959, Griggs and his family were moving to Phoenix, Arizona where he had purchased a commercial printing plant.

But by 1961, Griggs and his family had returned to Iowa and had purchased the Journal from the Goughnours.

During Duane’s ownership of the Journal, New London started to change. It slowly was becoming a “bedroom” community, the place where you lived but not necessarily where you worked.

The Journal started to slowly change too. It became less folksy as it became less personal. The “Locals” column became shorter as people were less interested in sharing personal information, or maybe not so interested in who had supper guests or children’s birthday parties. Ruth Peterson had to work harder and harder to fill that column every week. Eventually the “Locals” was discontinued as a column due to the lack of reader participation.

  Buy Photo

Duane had a weekly column called “Punch Line.” This is where he would share his insights and opinions. He often wrote letters to the editor to highlight topics that interested him or where he saw a problem. He started Geode Real Estate and sold houses along with producing the newspaper. Willing to serve, he was elected to the City Council. Interestingly, Duane was also an accomplished beekeeper who bottled and sold his own honey.

His most enduring project, in collaboration with Ruth DeLong Peterson, was the large newspaper size book titled New London Journal Centennial 1875-1975 — A History of New London, Iowa. I am amazed at the job they did. There was no “Googling” something, it was just hard research. It was and is an invaluable resource to anyone interested in New London history.

Over these years, many high school students were hired as “folders.” They folded the paper on Wednesdays after it had been printed. According to Evelyn Garmoe’s memories, the original “folders” were Susie Wessel and Berdita Hibbs. Barb Coberley Byrd and Denise Totemeier were also folders, to name just a few.

Others that worked with Evelyn were Glenna Voyles who wrote news and Don Johnson and Dave Ekstrand who were press operators. Later, Dennis Cook and John Byrd took over that job.

Duane Griggs sold the Journal in 1982 to Jim and Mary Hodges of Louisa Publishing, located in Wapello, and Les Peck who was part-owner with the Hodges for a time. Duane eventually left New London and relocated to Burlington. He died May 27, 2012 at 92.

As time passed, the Hodges’ son Mike took over the operation and ownership. The very capable Evelyn Garmoe manned the New London office and kept everything up and running. Evelyn was able to do all the jobs it took to get the Journal ready for print. She was really the indispensable woman.

She had contributions from Sharon Nehring and Frances Loyd who both had weekly columns. Sharon Burk was her last co-worker and they worked together for many years. Evelyn retired after an amazing 67 years. She was quick to point out that retirement came only after she fell and broke her hip. She died Nov. 7, 2022 at age 92 much to the sorrow of everyone who knew her.

Things were to change again. With Mike Hodges’ retirement in 2021, Sycamore Media out of Maquoketa acquired the Journal. They published several community newspapers and the Journal fit their criteria.

But the Journal had another chapter to its long history. On March 2, 2023, it was announced that the New London Journal was “transitioning ownership to the employee-owned Southeast Iowa Union.”

At the time, we had just lost the Journal office due to issues beyond our control and no longer had a central place to work. It certainly seemed that Virginia Ekstrand and I might be the last employees of the New London Journal. We both were quite happy to find this was not the case.

Our partnership with The Union has been educational and mostly enjoyable. We both work from home. Virginia is the roving photographer. We write articles on computers and email them to our editors. We don’t have layout responsibilities or ad sales. If New London people have questions or want to buy an ad or subscribe, they just call (319) 385-3131.

We don’t know how long the current arrangement will last, but as long as Virginia and I are writing copy, we are dedicated to giving you, the readers, as much New London news as we can find.

Thanks for all your support over the years and remember the Journal only stays viable as long as people subscribe. Here’s to another 100 years!