What We Cover
Hamilton-Wenham Patch covers the towns of Hamilton and Wenham on the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Hamilton
Population: 8,251
Local Government: Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen, Town Manager
High School: Hamilton-Wenham Regional
Wenham
Population: 4,778
Local Government: Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator
High School: Hamilton-Wenham Regional
Meet Your Local Patch Team
Marc Fortier, Regional Editor
Robert Gates, Contributor, Editor
Bobby has worked at daily and weekly newspapers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont for 10 years before joining Patch in 2010. He has a journalism degree from St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt. and lives in Beverly with his wife, two kids and yellow Lab.
Terry Date, Contributor, Editor
Terry is a veteran newspaper reporter. He worked 12 years as a reporter for two shoe-leather New England dailies, Foster's Daily Democrat and The Eagle-Tribune.
He has covered everything from presidential primaries, and state and local politics to education, veterans, water rights and transportation issues.
His beats included Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and the Interstate 93 widening project in New Hampshire. He especially enjoys writing feature stories. He received journalism training at the University of New Hampshire and from conducting thousands of interviews and writing thousands of stories.
Before he became a journalist, he worked for years as a shipfitter -- working with steel on submarines -- landscaper, and building and installing fences and arbors.
Andrew Sylvia, Editor
Andrew Sylvia is the local editor of the Westford and Chelmsford Patch.
He has written at least one piece for every Patch in Massachusetts north of Boston and has had bylines in more than a dozen newspapers in Vermont and New Hampshire, including The Telegraph of Nashua, the Milford Cabinet, Bedford Journal, the Hollis-Brookline Journal, the Keene Sentinel, the Pelham-Windham News, and the New Hampshire Union Leader. He also has contributed to various websites such as NHReporter.com, Ehow and the New Hampshire Sports Report after receiving a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Keene State College in 2004.
Huntley Rainville, Contributor, Sales
Huntley Rainville is North Shore all the way; born and raised on the sandy shores of Ipswich, she graduated with honors and a degree in communications from Emerson College located in the heart of Boston. Huntley spends her time boating, grilling, running, and reading, not necessarily on that order. She is simultaneously low-key and type A, and somehow it works for her. Huntley could not be more thrilled about Patch.com and is looking forward to meeting you and sharing the excitement!
Give her a shout to learn more:
huntley.rainville@patch.com
Bryan McGonigle, Contributor, Editor
Bryan has lived in the Merrimack Valley for much of his life and brings several years of journalism experience to North Andover Patch.
Stewart Lytle, Contributor
Stewart, who will be reporting on local government issues, is a veteran newspaper reporter who has covered government and politics in Washington, D.C., and across the country in state capitals and city halls. He was a national correspondent for Scripps-Howard Newspapers, reporting on Congress and the Defense Department. He was the South Texas bureau chief for the Dallas Times Herald and wrote about the real estate business for the Dallas Morning News. He started his career in Alabama, covering local and state politics for the Birmingham Post-Herald. He has also written articles for several magazines and wrote a book on outsourcing to India. A native of Birmingham, Stewart graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover and from Princeton University in New Jersey.
Bill Laforme, Contributor
Bill has worked in various journalism roles since 1995, starting with the former political news website evote.com, which began that year as one of the first entities devoted exclusively to online journalism.
Other experience includes three years spent as a news editor for the Laconia Citizen of New Hampshire, a university public relations writer at Plymouth State University, and search engine optimization writing for a Boston-based company.
Danielle Masterson, Contributor
Since graduating from Boston University, Danielle has had two successful careers in news writing and teaching at the elementary school level. She loves to listen to music, crochet and read. She lives in the Greater Boston area with her husband and their two dogs, Jake and Chloe.
John Castelluccio, Contributor, Editor
John joined Patch in August 2010 as the Local Editor for Danvers Patch. As of Memorial Day 2011, he switched over to become the editor for Peabody Patch, and now he's in charge of both Peabody and Danvers. Talk about things coming full circle... Prior to joining Patch, John spent three years at the Peabody-Lynnfield Weekly News, first as a reporter then editor of the two community newspapers. He graduated from Gordon College with a bachelor's degree in communications and has lived on the North Shore for the past eight years. John initially grew up in East Boston, but moved with his family to Southern Maine for several years and then came back to Mass. for college. He lives in Beverly with his wife and two sons.
Bill Gilman, Community Editor
Bill is 45 years old, married with two teen sons. Bill has been in journalism 23 years at various daily and weekly publications in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He got his start in sports journalism, but his heart is in hometown community coverage.
Molly Buccini, Community Editor
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Molly Buccini joined the Patch team as the Danvers Local Editor in May 2011. Buccini now covers Beverly Patch.
About Us
What is Patch?
Simply put, Patch is an innovative way to find out about, and participate in, what's going on near you.
We're a community-specific news, information and engagement platform driven by passionate and experienced new media professionals. Patch is revolutionizing the way neighbors connect with each other, their communities, and the national conversation.
We want to be the most trusted, comprehensive, and relevant news and information resource in your community. What can you do on Patch?
- Keep up with news and events
- Check out photos and videos from around town
- Learn more about local businesses and the people behind them
- Participate in discussions
- Share your perspectives via our Local Voices blogging platform
- Submit your own announcements, photos, and reviews
Who's Behind Patch?
Patch is run by professional editors, photographers, videographers, and salespeople who live in the regions they serve, and is supported by a great team in our New York City headquarters. Patch also gets advice from our Advisory Board and from many members of the community.
We look forward to meeting you and hearing your stories. If you see us around town, don't be afraid to say hi and tell us what you want to see on Patch!
Where You Come In
We hope that our sites will strengthen communities and improve the lives of their residents, but we can't do it without you. We've built Patch so that you have plenty of opportunities to comment on stories, share your opinions, post photos and announcements, and add events to the community calendar. So get to it! And if you're a business owner who wants to be listed, just let us know.
Giving Back
You can't truly serve a community unless you provide the help it needs most, which is why giving back is so important to us. We do it as part of our coverage — in a dedicated space that lets local charities and volunteers find each other — and with a program called "Give 5," through which we donate advertising space to charitable organizations and contribute our own time as volunteers. Want to know more? Email us at give5@patch.com.
Advisory Board
Phil Meyer
Phil Meyer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in Journalism in the spring of 2008. He joined the Journalism School in 1981 and served as Knight Chair in Journalism Professor from 1993-2008. Prior to joining the school, he held a number of reporter and research positions at various media outlets.
He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism (with Scott Maier). He was named a Fellow of Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. In 2004, the Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication gave him its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. And in 2000 he received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement.
Meyer is the author of several books including The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age and Precision Journalism: A Reporter’s Introduction to Social Science Methods. Journalism Quarterly in 2000 listed this book as one of the 35 significant books of the 20th century in journalism and mass communication; and the American Association for Public Opinion Research, observing its 50th anniversary in 1996, listed it as one of 50 significant books on public opinion research.
He received his B.S. in technical journalism from Kansas State University and his M.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina.
Steven Berlin Johnson
Steven Berlin Johnson is a pioneer in the web world, as a co-founder of FEED, Plastic.com, and Outside.in, which was acquired by Patch in March of 2011. He also co-created Findings.com, which launched in late 2011. Steven was the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School at Columbia University, and served for several years as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU’s Journalism School. He is a bestselling author of seven books, and won acclaim and a Newhouse School Mirror Award for his 2010 Time Magazine cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live."
Speaking of Steven's editorial prowess, check out this video based on Steven's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Economist.
Brian Farnham, Founding Editor-in-Chief
Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.
Ken Paulson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the First Amendment Center
Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.
Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today. He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.
Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.
He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.
Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.
He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.
For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.
In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.
He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.