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Reeder recognized as District 38 Woman of the Year

Each member of the California Legislature selects a Woman of the Year for their state Senate or state Assembly district, and state Sen. Brian Jones selected Julie Reeder as the Woman of the Year for the 38th State Senate District.

"I just appreciate it," Reeder said. "It's an honor for me to get that, and I appreciate our legislators for recognizing Fallbrook."

Fallbrook is in the 75th State Assembly District as well as the 38th State Senate District. Assemblymember Marie Waldron recognized Lila MacDonald as the Woman of the Year for the 75th State Assembly District.

"It's nice that two women from Fallbrook were recognized, and I think it speaks to Fallbrook in general because we're unincorporated and run by volunteers for the most part," Reeder said.

Jones' staff members receive nominations for his district's Woman of the Year and decide the recipient.

"It's a great honor every year to be able to recognize during Women's History Month the Woman of the Year for District 38," Jones said.

Jones was elected to the state Senate in November 2018.

The recognition of Reeder as the Woman of the Year for the 38th State Senate District took place during Jones' virtual town hall meeting March 24. Normally the recognition involves a day in Sacramento and recognition on the state Senate floor.

"It's really a special event, and we're going to do the very best this year to make that a great event also," Jones said.

Reeder is the president and publisher of Reeder Media and Village News Inc., which publishes three weekly newspapers and other magazines and websites. Her publications combined provide information to approximately 300,000 readers each month. During the Oct. 2007 and Dec. 2017 wildfires which affected Fallbrook, http://villagenews.com kept 75,000 people informed every day, and reporters and photographers were on the scene day and night. During this last year with COVID-19, Village and Valley News have kept COVID news on the websites updated daily and, in the papers, weekly.

"This is a very well-deserved recognition," Jones said.

The first issue of the Fallbrook/Bonsall Village News was published Dec. 18, 1997. Reeder founded the Village News after Fallbrook's previous weekly paper was consolidated into a zone of the North County Times. She founded the Temecula/Murrieta Valley News in October 2000 after the Press Enterprise purchased all the community papers in the Valley and assimilated them into the daily paper. Reeder started the annual Sourcebook directory for Fallbrook/Bonsall in 2002, and Reeder Media now has a Valley edition of the Sourcebook. In 2008, Village News Inc. purchased the Anza Valley Outlook from the previous owner after his retirement from the industry.

"Independent local news is super important," Reeder said. "I love doing the magazines, website work, and digital marketing, but it's all to support independent news and the community, which is our passion."

The Fallbrook/Bonsall Village News is one of six suburban weekly newspapers in San Diego County, counting commonly owned separate editions as a single publication, with local ownership. The other four are the Coast News, the Valley (Center) Roadrunner and its Escondido Times-Advocate edition, the Coronado Eagle & Journal which also publishes the Imperial Beach Eagle & Times, the East County Gazette and the Julian News.

After adding a full digital agency to meet the needs of their newspaper customers, Village News Inc. started branding under Reeder Media in 2015 to reflect the multimedia activities of the corporation.

"I encourage all of our constituents to subscribe and plug into all of Julie's publications," Jones said.

Reeder thanked her staff, her readers, her advertisers and her stockholders for her Woman of the Year award.

"I couldn't do it without them," she said. "I could do nothing without our subscribers and our advertisers and our staff."

The advantage of local ownership includes a commitment to the community, but the publication also faces financial challenges if local businesses struggle and advertising is reduced.

"It has been a tough year," Reeder said.

Julie and Chuck Reeder have been married since Oct. 1982. They were both raised in Los Angeles County and had lived in Apple Valley before moving to Fallbrook in 1988.

"We found Fallbrook, and we chose it because it was so beautiful," she said. "We wanted to raise our family here."

Two out of four of the Reeder children were born in Fallbrook.

"The first time we drove to Fallbrook it was so beautiful. It was breathtaking. We definitely wanted to live here," Reeder said.

Reeder and her husband now have four children, a daughter and son-in-law and three grandchildren.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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