They say it takes a village to raise a child. A similar sentiment might be shared about creating a magazine.

The new Franklin Living is out now – inserted in last week’s Franklin County Times, if you’re a subscriber – so we want to encourage you to pick one up. As you enjoy this and each issue, we’d also like to encourage you to take a moment to notice just how many people are involved in putting it together every other month.

This community magazine is truly a joint effort.

With that in mind, we really want to take a moment to brag on everyone who has a hand in its creation. While our staff, of course, works hard in crafting the feature stories and serving the needs of our valued advertisers, we also have an amazing team of contributors who are so dedicated and committed to sharing their ideas in their respective areas of expertise. They deserve the spotlight.

Emily Mays has been writing our Money Matters feature since mid-2018 – nearly six years now – and her consistent focus on good financial advice has been an excellent part of our magazine ever since she came on board. She always has practical, timely tips and insights for personal finance matters that apply to all of us. In this issue, she has some thoughts on vacation budgeting that are really going to get you in the mood for any upcoming travels on your calendar.

A majority of Franklin County folks are people of faith, and we want to serve that in Franklin Living. It’s a lifestyle magazine, after all, and so many of our readers’ lives are driven by their Biblical convictions. Philip Goad took on the Faith Focus piece when he began preaching at North Highlands Church of Christ in 2020, and he has been a faithful contributor to each edition with sound, Bible-based insight to provide a dose of spiritual education for each issue. We think he has an inspiring way of sharing a message that isn’t preachy but that will apply to your life and make you think. In this latest edition he tackles the concept of self-control – and who among us doesn’t need a little more of that from time to time?

We partnered with Katernia Cole-Coffey and the Franklin County Extension around 2019 to augment the magazine’s ability to offer advice on everything from home décor to gardening to nutrition to family interactions. We’re thankful Katernia, as director of the Extension, has continued to see the mutually beneficial value of using Franklin Living as a platform for reaching people with Extension information. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has a mission to “deliver research-based educational programs that enable people to improve their quality of life and economic well-being.” With this issue you can kickstart your spring planting – and see more successful growth thanks to the Extension’s tips.

We hear from many that one of their favorite features in each magazine is the recipe section. Amy McCollum, retired Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, began sharing her expertise for Taste of Franklin starting in 2021. Every good lifestyle magazine needs recipes, and Amy has been so good to share her delicious ideas with us. From her own recipes to those from family and friends and more, she’s always cooking up something yummy – like in this edition, recipes for the cookbook of a famous country star.

Our newest contributor is Lori Skinner, who began sharing her Reading Recommendations in 2022. As the library director at Northwest Shoals Community College, she’s an expert voice, and her must-not-miss titles have been a great addition to Franklin Living. We hope you have taken the opportunity to try some of her recommended reads.

It takes everyone to make Franklin Living happen, and with this issue as with each one, we could not be prouder. We hope you love it as much as we do.