20 years and counting!
Kathleen Weitschat sits on 20 years of archived bound copies of the Elk Rapids News. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
By Barb Mosher, Contributing Writer
When Kathleen Weitschat decided to launch her own newspaper 20 years ago, she counted on the support of local advertisers, the wisdom of a volunteer team of business experts, the encouragement of family and friends, a small loan, and the advice contained in a book she bought titled, “Publish your Own Magazine, Guidebook, or Weekly Newspaper.” But with the print newspaper industry already in decline, she would need something else she happens to possess in abundance: a “can-do” attitude that has made all the difference.
“I didn’t think about the challenges, the potential problems,” Kathleen said. “I just kept going. To this day, we just keep going.”
Since its inaugural issue on June 16, 2005, the Elk Rapids News has landed free of charge in area mailboxes every single week. Even when the Covid pandemic shuttered most businesses for months in 2020, the little paper continued to faithfully connect and cheer the community without skipping a beat.
“We sat down and discussed maybe not publishing because it was such a scary time,” said Kristie Wolgamott, the paper’s graphic designer. “But we decided we didn’t want to add to the hysteria and the feelings of seclusion with everyone staying in their homes and not even receiving a newspaper. So we came in here with masks and just kept working.”
Elizabeth Aseritis, the paper’s editor, recalls the same determined perseverance. “Kathleen said, ‘We’re not going to stop. We’re going to keep going. Everything will be alright.’ And she was so correct. People constantly tell us how much they appreciate the paper. It’s not the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, but that’s the charming thing about it. It’s unique and specific to the people who live here.”
The Elk Rapids News is delivered every Friday to more than 7,500 homes not only in the village but Williamsburg, Alden, Acme, Rapid City, Eastport, Torch River Bridge, and Kewadin. For two decades its freelance writers and photographers have covered community businesses, organizations, and events, area governmental meetings, and local sports. Readers have been introduced to their northern Michigan neighbors through human interest features and have shared opinions with each other in letters to the editor.
Columnists have written about cooking, gardening, wildlife, agriculture, weather, and local history. “Caughtcha Being GOOD,” a regular favorite of readers, has highlighted individuals who go the extra mile in helping others. And the April Fool’s issue has stirred up laughter and a bit of confusion every spring with its humorously deceptive articles.
“Although our writers and photographers don’t work directly in the office, they are a critical component of helping us research, create, and get the stories out to our readers every week,” Elizabeth said. “They help us capture the very essence of what is Elk Rapids.”
Advertisers have long recognized the popularity of the free-circulation weekly and discovered the benefits of using it to promote their businesses, providing a strong financial base for the paper.
“Kathleen has always had a good feel for the community and what’s important to it and for it,” said Tom Vranich, editor and writer/photographer for the paper from 2005 to 2010. “There’s always been a variety of articles showing the good side of life in northern Michigan. People are attracted to stories that bring a positive feeling, and advertisers recognize that their ads get attention in the Elk Rapids News.”
Royce Ragland, an Elk Rapids resident and chair of the environmental nonprofit Green Elk Rapids, is an ardent supporter and advocate of small-town journalism. “I see it as the glue of a community because of the diversity of things you see in a weekly paper like The Elk Rapids News,” she explained. “National news has its own slant and values, but it’s so important to think about what’s happening locally, because sometimes that’s the more inspirational point. It reminds you that there are many good things going on and many good people out there, that things maybe aren’t all as bad as they seem.”
It all began because Kathleen was “too successful” as an advertising sales rep for a different local weekly paper in the early 2000s. When that paper was bought by a media chain, she was initially commended for bringing in much-needed revenue. But before long, she was told she was making too much commission.
“They took away a lot of her commission and at the same time outsourced the billing and graphic design,” said Sarah (Weitschat) Davis, Kathleen’s daughter. “Good customer service went down the tubes, and she said, ‘I can do this much better myself.’ She wanted to have a paper with only positive things, and if anyone’s met Kathleen, they know if she sets her mind to something, it’s definitely going to happen.”
In just a few months’ time, Kathleen put together a business plan based on free circulation and pitched it to a panel of SCORE business mentors. Their response was uniquely enthusiastic. After excusing themselves to discuss her proposal, they returned in a few minutes and told her something they said they had never told a prospective entrepreneur so quickly before: “You need to do this right now. Today.”
Their endorsement gave Kathleen the courage to seek and secure a business loan, rent office space at the north end of Bridge Street, and hire an editor, a graphic designer, and a writer/photographer. Despite the resignation of the fresh-out-of-journalism-school editor the day before the paper’s office officially opened, the first edition of the Elk Rapids News was published within two weeks.
The paper’s office remained at its Bridge Street location for four years until the cramped quarters and the space-heater-warmed bathroom at the dark back end of the building prompted Kathleen and her staff to move in 2009 — one kid-sized wagonload at a time — to their current location in the 212 River Street Professional Building. The more visible location has made the Elk Rapids News an integral part of the downtown and an anchor of stability in its evolving business landscape.
Starting a newspaper is not the first endeavor of Kathleen’s that’s required the guts and gumption her children attribute, at least partially, to her Irish-American heritage. When her four children (Mike, Lisa, Chuck, and Sarah) were still young, she and her then-husband, Charlie, bought a small country grocery store in the thumb of Michigan, living above it until they built a house. “My mother thought we were crazy,” Kathleen recalled. “I thought it was fun.”
Summers always included family vacations in Elk Rapids, and Sarah remembers how dejected her mother would be on the “gloomy” drives back downstate. In 1991, when her kids were teens and young adults and Kathleen couldn’t fathom spending another day anywhere but Elk Rapids, she sold the downstate home, bought a pick-up truck, purchased a house on Spruce Street, and became a permanent resident of the village.
A variety of jobs over the next 14 years gave Kathleen an increasingly deeper understanding of the community and a camaraderie with those striving to make it an inviting place to settle or visit. By the time she started the Elk Rapids News, she was well-known and respected for her work ethic, her drive to prove nothing is impossible, and her commitment to nurturing the virtues of small-town life.
An innate kindness has also given Kathleen a reputation for giving back, both to her employees and the community at large. “She’s incredibly generous,” said Sarah, a former writer and ad sales rep for the Elk Rapids News. “She’s always created a good work environment where everyone feels appreciated and supported. That’s why they stay. She lets you live your life as long as you get the paper done by Wednesday afternoon.”
Nonprofits throughout the area have also benefitted from Kathleen’s big heart through her cash contributions and willingness to work within their limited advertising budgets. And the paper’s office has long served as a drop-off site for donations to the Community Cupboard food pantry. During the height of Covid, she arranged for a trailer to be parked on the street, so people could continue to support the pantry without coming inside the office. “There’s just a lot of need out there,” she said.
Supporting the public school system has been a priority of the paper as well, both through financial gifts and showcasing the efforts and achievements of students and staff. Brett Graham, Elk Rapids High School assistant principal and athletic director, says The Elk Rapids News has significantly helped its athletic programs reach their current level of success.
“They have done an excellent job of promoting our athletic programs and student-athletes,” he said. “They have consistently gone above and beyond to highlight the successes of our student-athletes. We are very grateful for their support.
Going above and beyond may define, as well as anything, not just the first 20 years of The Elk Rapids News but Kathleen, herself, and the motivation behind her hopes for the paper’s future.
“Starting a newspaper in her 60s speaks to her fearless independence, her refusal to be limited by expectations or age,” said her daughter Lisa Otto. “She embodies the spirit of perseverance, the kind of person who sees challenges not as roadblocks but as opportunities to prove what she’s capable of. She’s the kind of person who believes in leaving a mark—one that speaks of integrity, hard work, and the power of a voice that refuses to fade. A woman like her isn’t defined by age but by the legacy she builds—one story, one effort, one bold decision at a time.”
When Elk Rapids News went international
One of Kathleen’s favorite memories from the past 20 years is when she and her daughters, Sarah and Lisa, and other family members visited the newspaper offices of Northern Ireland’s largest newspaper Antrim Guardian while on a trip to the Emerald Isle in 2012.
Kathleen, a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Ireland, recalls the trip, and how it came to pass after Sarah, staff writer for Elk Rapids News at the time, made contact with the Antrim Guardian with a view of bringing Antrim County, Michigan and County Antrim, Ireland closer together. On St. Patrick’s Day 2012, Elk Rapids News partnered with The Guardian in a cultural exchange of articles regarding similarities, differences and points of interest in Antrim County, Michigan and County Antrim, Ireland, with both newspapers sharing and publishing stories about their unique counties in their respective newspapers.
Later that year, plans were made to travel to Ireland where Kathleen and her family spent an afternoon visiting with Antrim Guardian editor Liam Heffrom and the Mayor of Antrim Councillor Roy Thompson.
“It was a great trip,” said Kathleen, “and to meet and talk about our respective counties with The Guardian’s writers and the Mayor of Antrim was quite an experience. It was very exciting because Elk Rapids News was able to collaborate with a newspaper in another country and share some very interesting information with each other!”
After their visit to Antrim, Kathleen and her family went on to tour Sligo from where her grandfather, Thomas Gaffney, immigrated to the U.S. from Manorhamilton, many years before.
Elk Rapids News Contributors
Kim Eardley
Kim Eardley has worked with Elk Rapids News, attending as many of the sporting events as she can, since 2014. She is a mom to two ERHS alumni, Jayna and Joshua Olosky, as well as current junior Emma Eardley. In her time away from shooting sports, Kim enjoys attending her daughter’s powerlifting meets and boating. “Any day on the lake is a good day!”
Mark McAlpine
I am a proud 1973 MSU grad with a Journalism Degree. My career path changed a bit as I enjoyed a 50-year business career in the corporate sales and marketing world before joining the entrepreneurial life as a consultant and business owner. My last business venture was a microbrewery in Plymouth Michigan before retiring full-time in Milton Township. Along the way, it has been my pleasure to participate for 17 years in the growth of the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) and its foundation as a governor, board member and past president. I have shared this journey with my wife Cathy Catallo, a retired high school teacher. We discovered Elk Rapids in 1989 when we bought property and built our current home overlooking Torch Lake in 1994. Accurate reporting on meetings and the preparation of interesting feature articles in the Elk Rapids News has been a privilege and passion since May 2022. My sincere thanks to the entire community for allowing me to share this slice of paradise with the rest of the world over the past three years.
Barb Mosher
Barb Mosher has lived in Elk Rapids 31 years. She and Craig have three married children and three grandchildren with a fourth due in September. She’s been writing human interest features for the Elk Rapids News for eight years and says, “I love getting to know people and sharing their stories. I especially love highlighting veterans who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.” She also loves studying the Bible and serving in the ministry of Community Bible Study. She’s always on the lookout for interesting story ideas. Email her at [email protected].
Tim Peterson
Once I realized that my dream of becoming a caped crime fighter was likely not going to happen, I applied to Elk Rapids News to be a sportswriter. Once ERN determined I had a good grasp of the alphabet, I was given the position and have been researching and recapping Elk sports for going on 16 years. I am a huge fan of stats, and also a big history buff. The blending these two often leads to discovering interesting moments in Elk Rapids sports history, which is a thrill to write. Covering Elk Rapids sports has been a lot of fun, and a big part of that is due to having the world’s best photographer, Kim Eardley, to work with. Kim is the best, bar none!
In my spare time I enjoy watching the Detroit Lions, I have been a diehard fan since 1970 and firmly believe in the motto “Next year is our year!” I enjoy breathing, napping, sitting or lying down, and as of three years ago, hanging out with my two granddaughters Ada Kay (three years old) and Isla Jay (three weeks old) along with my daughter Alyssa Kay.
I officially became a senior citizen in 2025, how that happened so fast, I have no idea. As I look back and reflect on life, I gotta say it has all been a great ride so far and I’m looking forward to continuing!
I expect great things from the Lions and from Elk Rapids varsity sports, and I mean all of the ER sports!
"My mom is wildly community-oriented, always been part of the fabric of the community. She’s inherently kind. She’s also mission driven. It was a true move on her part to participate in the community and have ownership and control of the narrative of the paper. She knows what she wants from it. It’s been a pleasure to watch, and it’s kept her young. She just loves it." – Mike Weitschat
“She takes her time to make decisions, not based on personal views but rather what’s best for the community at large that her paper serves. Her personal philosophy of “Everything will be fine” is how she leads the paper to be such a positive resource.” – Chuck Weitschat
When Kathleen Weitschat decided to launch her own newspaper 20 years ago, she counted on the support of local advertisers, the wisdom of a volunteer team of business experts, the encouragement of family and friends, a small loan, and the advice contained in a book she bought titled, “Publish your Own Magazine, Guidebook, or Weekly Newspaper.” But with the print newspaper industry already in decline, she would need something else she happens to possess in abundance: a “can-do” attitude that has made all the difference.
“I didn’t think about the challenges, the potential problems,” Kathleen said. “I just kept going. To this day, we just keep going.”
Since its inaugural issue on June 16, 2005, the Elk Rapids News has landed free of charge in area mailboxes every single week. Even when the Covid pandemic shuttered most businesses for months in 2020, the little paper continued to faithfully connect and cheer the community without skipping a beat.
“We sat down and discussed maybe not publishing because it was such a scary time,” said Kristie Wolgamott, the paper’s graphic designer. “But we decided we didn’t want to add to the hysteria and the feelings of seclusion with everyone staying in their homes and not even receiving a newspaper. So we came in here with masks and just kept working.”
Elizabeth Aseritis, the paper’s editor, recalls the same determined perseverance. “Kathleen said, ‘We’re not going to stop. We’re going to keep going. Everything will be alright.’ And she was so correct. People constantly tell us how much they appreciate the paper. It’s not the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, but that’s the charming thing about it. It’s unique and specific to the people who live here.”
The Elk Rapids News is delivered every Friday to more than 7,500 homes not only in the village but Williamsburg, Alden, Acme, Rapid City, Eastport, Torch River Bridge, and Kewadin. For two decades its freelance writers and photographers have covered community businesses, organizations, and events, area governmental meetings, and local sports. Readers have been introduced to their northern Michigan neighbors through human interest features and have shared opinions with each other in letters to the editor.
Columnists have written about cooking, gardening, wildlife, agriculture, weather, and local history. “Caughtcha Being GOOD,” a regular favorite of readers, has highlighted individuals who go the extra mile in helping others. And the April Fool’s issue has stirred up laughter and a bit of confusion every spring with its humorously deceptive articles.
“Although our writers and photographers don’t work directly in the office, they are a critical component of helping us research, create, and get the stories out to our readers every week,” Elizabeth said. “They help us capture the very essence of what is Elk Rapids.”
Advertisers have long recognized the popularity of the free-circulation weekly and discovered the benefits of using it to promote their businesses, providing a strong financial base for the paper.
“Kathleen has always had a good feel for the community and what’s important to it and for it,” said Tom Vranich, editor and writer/photographer for the paper from 2005 to 2010. “There’s always been a variety of articles showing the good side of life in northern Michigan. People are attracted to stories that bring a positive feeling, and advertisers recognize that their ads get attention in the Elk Rapids News.”
Royce Ragland, an Elk Rapids resident and chair of the environmental nonprofit Green Elk Rapids, is an ardent supporter and advocate of small-town journalism. “I see it as the glue of a community because of the diversity of things you see in a weekly paper like The Elk Rapids News,” she explained. “National news has its own slant and values, but it’s so important to think about what’s happening locally, because sometimes that’s the more inspirational point. It reminds you that there are many good things going on and many good people out there, that things maybe aren’t all as bad as they seem.”
It all began because Kathleen was “too successful” as an advertising sales rep for a different local weekly paper in the early 2000s. When that paper was bought by a media chain, she was initially commended for bringing in much-needed revenue. But before long, she was told she was making too much commission.
“They took away a lot of her commission and at the same time outsourced the billing and graphic design,” said Sarah (Weitschat) Davis, Kathleen’s daughter. “Good customer service went down the tubes, and she said, ‘I can do this much better myself.’ She wanted to have a paper with only positive things, and if anyone’s met Kathleen, they know if she sets her mind to something, it’s definitely going to happen.”
In just a few months’ time, Kathleen put together a business plan based on free circulation and pitched it to a panel of SCORE business mentors. Their response was uniquely enthusiastic. After excusing themselves to discuss her proposal, they returned in a few minutes and told her something they said they had never told a prospective entrepreneur so quickly before: “You need to do this right now. Today.”
Their endorsement gave Kathleen the courage to seek and secure a business loan, rent office space at the north end of Bridge Street, and hire an editor, a graphic designer, and a writer/photographer. Despite the resignation of the fresh-out-of-journalism-school editor the day before the paper’s office officially opened, the first edition of the Elk Rapids News was published within two weeks.
The paper’s office remained at its Bridge Street location for four years until the cramped quarters and the space-heater-warmed bathroom at the dark back end of the building prompted Kathleen and her staff to move in 2009 — one kid-sized wagonload at a time — to their current location in the 212 River Street Professional Building. The more visible location has made the Elk Rapids News an integral part of the downtown and an anchor of stability in its evolving business landscape.
Starting a newspaper is not the first endeavor of Kathleen’s that’s required the guts and gumption her children attribute, at least partially, to her Irish-American heritage. When her four children (Mike, Lisa, Chuck, and Sarah) were still young, she and her then-husband, Charlie, bought a small country grocery store in the thumb of Michigan, living above it until they built a house. “My mother thought we were crazy,” Kathleen recalled. “I thought it was fun.”
Summers always included family vacations in Elk Rapids, and Sarah remembers how dejected her mother would be on the “gloomy” drives back downstate. In 1991, when her kids were teens and young adults and Kathleen couldn’t fathom spending another day anywhere but Elk Rapids, she sold the downstate home, bought a pick-up truck, purchased a house on Spruce Street, and became a permanent resident of the village.
A variety of jobs over the next 14 years gave Kathleen an increasingly deeper understanding of the community and a camaraderie with those striving to make it an inviting place to settle or visit. By the time she started the Elk Rapids News, she was well-known and respected for her work ethic, her drive to prove nothing is impossible, and her commitment to nurturing the virtues of small-town life.
An innate kindness has also given Kathleen a reputation for giving back, both to her employees and the community at large. “She’s incredibly generous,” said Sarah, a former writer and ad sales rep for the Elk Rapids News. “She’s always created a good work environment where everyone feels appreciated and supported. That’s why they stay. She lets you live your life as long as you get the paper done by Wednesday afternoon.”
Nonprofits throughout the area have also benefitted from Kathleen’s big heart through her cash contributions and willingness to work within their limited advertising budgets. And the paper’s office has long served as a drop-off site for donations to the Community Cupboard food pantry. During the height of Covid, she arranged for a trailer to be parked on the street, so people could continue to support the pantry without coming inside the office. “There’s just a lot of need out there,” she said.
Supporting the public school system has been a priority of the paper as well, both through financial gifts and showcasing the efforts and achievements of students and staff. Brett Graham, Elk Rapids High School assistant principal and athletic director, says The Elk Rapids News has significantly helped its athletic programs reach their current level of success.
“They have done an excellent job of promoting our athletic programs and student-athletes,” he said. “They have consistently gone above and beyond to highlight the successes of our student-athletes. We are very grateful for their support.
Going above and beyond may define, as well as anything, not just the first 20 years of The Elk Rapids News but Kathleen, herself, and the motivation behind her hopes for the paper’s future.
“Starting a newspaper in her 60s speaks to her fearless independence, her refusal to be limited by expectations or age,” said her daughter Lisa Otto. “She embodies the spirit of perseverance, the kind of person who sees challenges not as roadblocks but as opportunities to prove what she’s capable of. She’s the kind of person who believes in leaving a mark—one that speaks of integrity, hard work, and the power of a voice that refuses to fade. A woman like her isn’t defined by age but by the legacy she builds—one story, one effort, one bold decision at a time.”
When Elk Rapids News went international
One of Kathleen’s favorite memories from the past 20 years is when she and her daughters, Sarah and Lisa, and other family members visited the newspaper offices of Northern Ireland’s largest newspaper Antrim Guardian while on a trip to the Emerald Isle in 2012.
Kathleen, a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Ireland, recalls the trip, and how it came to pass after Sarah, staff writer for Elk Rapids News at the time, made contact with the Antrim Guardian with a view of bringing Antrim County, Michigan and County Antrim, Ireland closer together. On St. Patrick’s Day 2012, Elk Rapids News partnered with The Guardian in a cultural exchange of articles regarding similarities, differences and points of interest in Antrim County, Michigan and County Antrim, Ireland, with both newspapers sharing and publishing stories about their unique counties in their respective newspapers.
Later that year, plans were made to travel to Ireland where Kathleen and her family spent an afternoon visiting with Antrim Guardian editor Liam Heffrom and the Mayor of Antrim Councillor Roy Thompson.
“It was a great trip,” said Kathleen, “and to meet and talk about our respective counties with The Guardian’s writers and the Mayor of Antrim was quite an experience. It was very exciting because Elk Rapids News was able to collaborate with a newspaper in another country and share some very interesting information with each other!”
After their visit to Antrim, Kathleen and her family went on to tour Sligo from where her grandfather, Thomas Gaffney, immigrated to the U.S. from Manorhamilton, many years before.
Elk Rapids News Contributors
Kim Eardley
Kim Eardley has worked with Elk Rapids News, attending as many of the sporting events as she can, since 2014. She is a mom to two ERHS alumni, Jayna and Joshua Olosky, as well as current junior Emma Eardley. In her time away from shooting sports, Kim enjoys attending her daughter’s powerlifting meets and boating. “Any day on the lake is a good day!”
Mark McAlpine
I am a proud 1973 MSU grad with a Journalism Degree. My career path changed a bit as I enjoyed a 50-year business career in the corporate sales and marketing world before joining the entrepreneurial life as a consultant and business owner. My last business venture was a microbrewery in Plymouth Michigan before retiring full-time in Milton Township. Along the way, it has been my pleasure to participate for 17 years in the growth of the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) and its foundation as a governor, board member and past president. I have shared this journey with my wife Cathy Catallo, a retired high school teacher. We discovered Elk Rapids in 1989 when we bought property and built our current home overlooking Torch Lake in 1994. Accurate reporting on meetings and the preparation of interesting feature articles in the Elk Rapids News has been a privilege and passion since May 2022. My sincere thanks to the entire community for allowing me to share this slice of paradise with the rest of the world over the past three years.
Barb Mosher
Barb Mosher has lived in Elk Rapids 31 years. She and Craig have three married children and three grandchildren with a fourth due in September. She’s been writing human interest features for the Elk Rapids News for eight years and says, “I love getting to know people and sharing their stories. I especially love highlighting veterans who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.” She also loves studying the Bible and serving in the ministry of Community Bible Study. She’s always on the lookout for interesting story ideas. Email her at [email protected].
Tim Peterson
Once I realized that my dream of becoming a caped crime fighter was likely not going to happen, I applied to Elk Rapids News to be a sportswriter. Once ERN determined I had a good grasp of the alphabet, I was given the position and have been researching and recapping Elk sports for going on 16 years. I am a huge fan of stats, and also a big history buff. The blending these two often leads to discovering interesting moments in Elk Rapids sports history, which is a thrill to write. Covering Elk Rapids sports has been a lot of fun, and a big part of that is due to having the world’s best photographer, Kim Eardley, to work with. Kim is the best, bar none!
In my spare time I enjoy watching the Detroit Lions, I have been a diehard fan since 1970 and firmly believe in the motto “Next year is our year!” I enjoy breathing, napping, sitting or lying down, and as of three years ago, hanging out with my two granddaughters Ada Kay (three years old) and Isla Jay (three weeks old) along with my daughter Alyssa Kay.
I officially became a senior citizen in 2025, how that happened so fast, I have no idea. As I look back and reflect on life, I gotta say it has all been a great ride so far and I’m looking forward to continuing!
I expect great things from the Lions and from Elk Rapids varsity sports, and I mean all of the ER sports!
"My mom is wildly community-oriented, always been part of the fabric of the community. She’s inherently kind. She’s also mission driven. It was a true move on her part to participate in the community and have ownership and control of the narrative of the paper. She knows what she wants from it. It’s been a pleasure to watch, and it’s kept her young. She just loves it." – Mike Weitschat
“She takes her time to make decisions, not based on personal views but rather what’s best for the community at large that her paper serves. Her personal philosophy of “Everything will be fine” is how she leads the paper to be such a positive resource.” – Chuck Weitschat
| frontpage6_12.pdf |