As 2016 approaches, we’ve been buzzing back on 2015 and note it’s been a year of change and progress for the Larchmont Buzz. A relative youngster compared to the venerable Larchmont Chronicle (which marked 52 years in 2015), the Buzz only started in September 2011, when Julie Grist and Mary Hawley created a website about our local neighborhoods – Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Windsor Village, Fremont Place and more. Their goal was to connect the neighborhoods via news, events and lifestyle stories.
In their first Facebook post, Julie and Mary wrote: “It’s a labor of love! We hope you will join us on this ride. Our goal is to create a regular resource for neighborhood news, information, entertainment and celebrations!”
Since they started, thousands of readers have signed up for the Buzz daily email (well, almost daily, we don’t publish on Sunday), “liked” our Facebook Page, and followed our Twitter and Instagram accounts. The number of visitors to our site continues to grow daily.
In 2015, the Buzz founders turned the site over to new owners, Patricia Lombard and Elizabeth Fuller, who had been contributing writers to the Buzz since shortly after it launched.
Building on the previous three years and working together, Lombard and Fuller stepped up the number of posts and added new contributors: Hannah B. Davis writes about food and drink, Jill Volat writes about gardening in her Edible Apartment series, Adam Dunlop Farkas covers movies, Mona Pirnot covers theatre, Mary Bell writes on organizing and Deborah Brooks writes on fitness and health. Photographer Megan Derry periodically shares her unique perspective. Anya Grottel-Brown also restarted her columns on people in the neighborhood, and founder Julie Grist continues to write about a range of issues including gardening and transforming our lawn landscapes. Finally, Kimberly Rudy joined the Buzz as advertising sales coordinator and contributes articles about Buzz sponsors.
Over the last four years, the Buzz has published more than 2500 stories and has generated almost 5,000 comments from readers. The stories cover a range of issues…always, at least almost always, with a focused local interest that we hope makes them meaningful to neighborhood readers.
Looking back to our earliest posts, there were stories about the Paramount Project, mansionization, Metro Rail construction, the Park Mile Specific Plan, copper wire theft from neighborhood light fixtures, historic preservation efforts, development of the former home of Farmers Insurance by CIM, the comings and goings of businesses on Larchmont Blvd., little league baseball, crime in the neighborhood, coyotes, traffic, food and life in the neighborhood. Many of those stories continue to develop in our very latest posts.
One of the Buzz’s goals is to help create a digital archive of life in our neighborhoods, sharing the stories of local residents and capturing the times in photos. Our local history is very important to us.  We are also proud that Patty Lombard’s pictorial history of Larchmont, published in November by Arcadia Press (and now available at Chevalier’s Books, our beloved 75-year old local institution, featured in the book) has been so well received. The Larchmont Chronicle was the primary source of images for the book.
We are further delighted to report the Buzz gained a new home this year – in Larchmont Boulevard’s historic Hollywoodland Realty Bungalow at 584 N Larchmont Blvd. Â From here, we look forward to reporting on the issues that affect the quality of our lives, the value of our homes and the health of our neighborhoods in 2016 and beyond. We thank you for joining Mary and Julie, and now Liz and Patty, on this ride and hope you’ll stick with us as we keep moving forward!
Our sincere wishes for a happy, healthy New Year!
Liz and Patty
Happy New Year to you all. The Buzz is an amazing service for the neighborhood!
Thank you,