John C. Roberts has been named Publisher of The Lincoln County News, effective Jan. 12. He has served as one of the Associate Publishers since Jan. 11, 2016.
John replaces his father, Christopher A. Roberts who has held the position since Oct. 15, 1992.
At a meeting of the stockholders of the Lincoln County Publishing Co., owner of The News, John was elected President, Allan R. Roberts was elected Vice President and Treasurer, and Christopher was elected as Secretary.
Allan will continue serving as Associate Publisher concentrating on commercial printing operations. He has worked at the company full time since 2006.
Christopher was accorded the title of Publisher Emeritus and does not have formal plans for retirement. His father, Samuel E. Roberts, held this title from Oct. 15, 1992 until his passing on Nov. 6, 2018.
John becomes the fifth generation of his family to become Publisher of The News. He succeeds his father, his grandfather, his great-grandmother, Dorothy E. Roberts, and his great-great-grandfather Samuel H. Erskine.
John is married to Kristen (Magnussen) and the father of two boys, Matthew and Thomas. He and his family reside in Damariscotta.
Allan is married to Allison (Fleming) and the father of a boy and a girl, James and Michaela. He and his family reside in Damariscotta.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Paula and I take great pride and joy that on the front page of this newspaper is the official announcement of our sons, John and Allan, becoming the publisher and the associate publisher, respectively.
I became the official publisher in 1992. As with most families, the duties were in my hands long before the official announcement. My father, Sam, the previous publisher, had been stepping back and needed the official break by making me publisher. A slow transition works better.
Allan has been taking over the role of commercial printing production since 2006. John has been taking over the role of publisher since 2016.
I have seen the newspaper change from being printed letterpress to be printed offset in the early ‘70s, the move to our present location in 1981 and the installation of a newspaper press. We added a color-printing unit in 2000, then changed out the press in 2004 with capability of four pages in color. In 2017, we added up to eight color pages in each section.
Looking back none of this would be possible without our committed staff of editors, reporters, advertising personnel, production staff, and office staff. But the most important of all is the readers, advertisers and subscribers without them there is no newspaper.
Here is looking forward to another generation, the fifth, delivering the news to Lincoln County.
Chris Roberts
Publisher Emeritus
P.S. This is not my retirement, yet.
