“The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, and the little hills the fruit of righteousness.”
(Ps. 72:3 NIV)
 
These lines are part of the celebration of Epiphany, January 6, celebrated in many Christian denominations. Epiphany is the day associated, in the Liturgical Calendar, with the arrival of the Three Kings with their unusual, symbolic gifts to the Christ child. It is a day that represents arrival, celebration, and gratitude. It also marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of the New Year in our household, as I take away all the decorations and begin to plan ahead. While some translations of this psalm use “peace” instead of “prosperity,” and the original Hebrew was shalom incorporating both meanings, I know that both peace and prosperity will bless our Blue Ridge region.
 
Planning the magazine’s features and photos requires vision, and my vision for BRT is ever expanding. Making sure that BRT can survive in a competitive marketplace also requires vision. Over 400 subscribers across the USA now read BRT cover-to-cover, as so many of you have written to tell me. Good! Since its inception, the magazine has also been “complimentary” and available to be picked up in countless convenient locations. This has served the communities quite well. But, alas, this method no longer pays the bills.
 
BRT has evolved from a shorter black-and white format to the much longer, full-color periodical you read today. Readers value this magazine, and often save the issues. I get many requests for back issues, which I do not have! All but a few for my own files are distributed in an ever-larger area, where the demand for this magazine is growing. BRT is now reaching as far north as Staunton to the west of the Blue Ridge and Charlottesville to the east, as far southwest as the New River Valley (Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Radford, etc.) and as far southeast as Danville. Plans are underway to bring BRT to the Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, Alexandria, and Winchester markets---by request! The magazine’s reputation, the variety and locations of its advertisers, and its readership are also all growing.
 
Readers love BRT! This inspires me to try to make it even better and even more available. BRT is available for subscription at the great annual cost of $15 (which includes the cost of mailing), and will also be available to be picked up at ALL advertisers who choose to have them available. It will also be available for purchase, at the very reasonable price of $2.25 per issue, at shops, restaurants, motels, and other places in the entire distribution region. 
By making it available for purchase I will be able to pay the costs of production (more than $10,000 per issue: printing, writers, lay-out, advertising design, and distribution), something which I cannot do by giving all 10,000 away “free.” So, before you groan or complain, think of it this way: at $2.25 an issue, if you were to buy all six issues a year it breaks down to a little over $0.03 a day, for a quality magazine. Isn’t BRT worth this to you? I hope so. Happy 2004! Celebrate with BRT!

 - Ibby Greer

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