History Of The Echo

The Lebanon Valley Historical Society will host a presentation on the history of the first 15 years of The Echo, the independent hometown paper of the Lebanon and Taconic valleys which was published continuously from March 5, 1940, to October 10, 1996. This event will be held at Peggy Hawkins’ Meeting Place, 2142 County Route 5 on Monday, May 18, at 7 pm. The first 15 years of the story, 1940 to 1954, will be recalled by Tom Bleezarde.
Tom Bleezarde grew up in the Valley, sharing a home with his parents, one brother and the office of The Echo, the area’s family owned weekly newspaper. Taking ads, selling subscriptions and accepting news items were second nature for him and provided material for the anecdotes he’ll share here.
Bleezarde went to Hamilton College, the University of Massachusetts Journalism School and became a reporter, columnist and editor for The Berkshire Eagle, news editor of The Brattleboro (Vt.) Reformer and editor of the Williams College Alumni Review.  He has written, edited and/or published a half-dozen books including the recently published A Class, A Building and A War, the story of the NLCH class of 1953 during the World War II years in the Union Free School building.