editor's note

To the approximately 30 million (mostly) parents who have read our issues since we first hit the streets of Orange County on May 15, 1998, I salute you.

To our new editor, who has led the redesign of the 10th Anniversary Issue you hold in your hands, I salute Lynn Armitage.

To Sandy Bennett, who started as a senior writer and guided the magazines for years as managing editor, I salute you.

To Kimberly A. Porrazzo, who founded our “Mother Knows” column and later became editor of our magazine group’s flagship publication, OC METRO Business Magazine, I salute you.

To Steve Smith, a former contributor who gave me early guidance, and to founding contributors Jennifer Leuer, David Dickstein, Michele Piazzoni, David Kries and Carol Daus, I salute all of you. And to longtime contributors, such as Lisa Alvarez and S. Danyelle Knight, I salute you, too.

In all that I embrace, I include the founding art director, Alexander Alvarado; the founding design manager, Angeli Paden; and 2 other production and tech people who now oversee departments here: Victoria Paré and Jeff Kitchen. The handiwork of this newly designed magazine is courtesy of our current art director, Luke Hodsdon. A lot of people have sweated the details; it matters that much.

Thanks to Publisher Steve Churm, who began the discussion with me in his office about a parenting magazine, and then followed through. And to the sales teams that have made us profitable by promoting a great product. Way back then, we had an account with AOL, and our business magazine had a simple website. Our sister publication, Inland Empire Family Magazine, was still a dream – it launched in September 1999 – and the idea of putting video online, well, what a concept!

In the year that OC Family Magazine was first published, about 40,000 babies were born in Orange County. Most today are 4th- or 5th-graders.

OC Family Magazine has reflected the growth of my own family; my wife and I were celebrating our own 10th anniversary while Churm Media was starting to shape the future first issue. And when the premiere issue came out, my family demographic perfectly fit our reader – my oldest was 4; my twins were 9 months old.

Today, Nicholas is an 8th-grader, and Nathan and Christopher are in 4th grade.

It is amazing how much life has been lived in that short span. And there’s more to come. Back then, under the headline “Issue No. 1,” I urged you to write to us, often. We have listened. Continue that dialogue on ocfamily.com and click on “Feedback.”

Craig Reem was the founding editor of OC Family Magazine. Please send all questions or comments to Editor Lynn Armitage at: larmitage@churmmedia.com.