David Allen Richardson and his wife, Catherine Ann Robertson, purchased the Herald from Makinson in 1985. Richardson, originally from Canton had been a journalist in Washington DC, Florida and Ohio. His “One Man’s Meat” columns became popular with many readers.

Robertson was a Norton High graduate and retired from Society Bank as President. The two ran the Herald until 2004, when Cheryl Lyn McCracken-Vespoint, Robertson’s daughter, purchased it. Vespoint is a 1984 Barberton graduate.

Vespoint carried the The Barberton Herald into the digital age by incorporating the internet and sending pages to print electronically. In 2010, the Herald pushed its way into the social media scene being hailed by the National Newspaper Association as one of the most digitally aggressive weeklies in the state, with over 16,000 followers on Facebook. The Herald also incorporates a YouTube Page, Google Plus and Instagram.

The Herald has evolved throughout its 94-year history, but has continued to focus on local news, sports and opinion.

Today, the newspaper averages sales of more than 8,500 issues per week through printed and online subscriptions and newsstand sales, with single copies at $1 and a years subscription is $20. The online newspaper subscription is $16.

– Excerpts from Rebecca Larson-Troyer