Celebrating the First Year of Stroll Spaulding Farm — and Looking Ahead to Year Two

It is hard to believe that one year ago, the very first issue of Stroll Spaulding Farm landed in mailboxes.

At the time, I knew what I hoped this magazine could become. I wanted it to be something different. Something personal. Something that didn't simply get delivered to Spaulding Farm, but actually belonged to Spaulding Farm. What I couldn't have known was just how much the residents of this community would bring that vision to life.

Over the past 12 months, I have had the privilege of getting to know so many of you—not just as names or addresses, but as families, parents, grandparents, children, business owners, athletes, artists, travelers, pet lovers, neighbors and friends.

And that has easily been the greatest joy of this first year.

When we started, I never wanted Stroll Spaulding Farm to feel like just another publication filled with articles written by people who had no connection to the neighborhood. The idea was exactly the opposite. The residents would be the story. Your families. Your children. Your pets. Your vacations. Your recipes. Your accomplishments. Your hobbies. Your businesses. Your traditions. Your causes. Even the things that may seem ordinary to you—but are part of what makes this neighborhood extraordinary.

Over this first year, those stories have filled these pages. We've introduced neighbors through our Feature Family stories. We've celebrated children and young athletes. We've met beloved family pets. We've shared vacations and adventures. We've stepped into kitchens for resident recipes, highlighted beautiful yards, introduced artists, recognized people making a difference and found new ways to celebrate the personalities that make Spaulding Farm what it is.

One of my favorite parts has been watching residents become contributors themselves. Our Kids Corner is a perfect example. Having 12-year-old resident Fiona Furman help bring a young resident's perspective to the magazine represents exactly what I hoped this publication would become: a magazine created with the community, not simply for it. And sometimes the best moments don't happen on the printed page at all.

They happen when families meet one another at an event. When someone tells me they recognized a neighbor from the magazine. When residents send pictures from a vacation or a swim meet. When someone recommends another family we should feature. When a child gets excited because their picture made the magazine.

Those moments remind me why this publication matters. The Faces on This Cover Tell the Story

For this special September anniversary issue, I wanted the cover to be different.

Instead of choosing just one image to represent this month, we brought back the covers from our first year. Looking at them together is pretty special. Each cover represents a moment in time, but behind every photograph is a much bigger story.

There are families who opened their homes and their lives to their neighbors. Children who will one day be much older and have these magazines to look back on. Milestones that deserved to be celebrated. Stories that might otherwise have never been told. Put all those covers together, and they begin to look like something bigger than a collection of magazines. They look like a yearbook for Spaulding Farm.

And we're only on Volume One.

Personally, the most rewarding part of this journey has been the relationships.

I don't live in Spaulding Farm, so when this started, many of you were strangers to me. Today, that's very different.

I've had conversations in living rooms, at photo shoots, at community events, over meals and simply standing around talking about life. I've heard about children and grandchildren, careers and retirements, vacations, hobbies, victories, challenges and decades of memories made inside this neighborhood.

Spaulding Farm has such an interesting story of its own. It has history. It has longtime residents who remember earlier chapters of the community, and it has younger families now creating an entirely new generation of memories here.

That's something worth documenting. A home may change owners someday. Children grow up. Families change. Neighbors come and go. But stories have a way of preserving a moment.

That's one reason I love print. Months after an issue arrives, I still see magazines sitting on coffee tables and kitchen counters. Families save the issue they appeared in. Parents and grandparents keep copies with their children in them. In a world where a social media post can disappear down a feed in a matter of hours, there is something special about holding a piece of your family's story in your hands.

This first year has also shown me that Stroll Spaulding Farm can be much more than what arrives in your mailbox every month. We've had opportunities to bring residents together, connect local businesses with families and create experiences that extend beyond the magazine. Our community event at the clubhouse was one of those moments.

Seeing residents and our business partners together—with kids running around, families talking, music playing, food, golf, activities and plenty of laughter—was a reminder that the publication can help create real connections.

Spaulding Farm already had a community long before this magazine existed.

Our job isn't to create that community. Our job is to celebrate it, strengthen it and tell its stories. That distinction is important to me.

I also want to recognize the businesses that believed in this publication, particularly those who joined us when there wasn't even a first issue to show them. Without our advertising partners, this magazine simply would not exist.These businesses made an investment not only in advertising, but in this community. Many have attended events, contributed expertise, supported resident activities and trusted us to introduce their businesses to Spaulding Farm families. I take that trust seriously.

From the beginning, I've wanted our business partners to feel like partners—not logos filling pages. As we enter our second year, I am even more excited about finding creative ways to connect great local businesses with residents while protecting what makes this publication special. To every business that has supported us during Year One: thank you.

And Now… Year Two

As proud as I am of our first year, I'm even more excited about what happens next.

Because there are still hundreds of stories inside Spaulding Farm that we haven't told. And that's where you come in.

Maybe you've flipped through the magazine over the past year and thought, "Our family could never be on the cover."

Yes, you could.

You don't need an extraordinary résumé. You don't need the perfect house. You don't need a professional story to tell.

You just need to be you.

We want Year Two to introduce even more of the people who make up Spaulding Farm.

Want to be a Feature Family?
We'd love to tell your family's story—how you met, how you came to Spaulding Farm, your traditions, your children, what you love doing together and the memories you're making here.

Have an interesting hobby?
Maybe you restore cars, paint, garden, collect something unusual, play music, golf, cook, woodwork, fish, run marathons or have a passion your neighbors would enjoy learning about.

Tell us.

Love to travel?
Send us your pictures and tell us about your favorite trip. It could be an international adventure, a cross-country road trip or a hidden weekend destination a few hours from Greenville.

Have a young athlete in the family?
We want to celebrate them.

Have a pet who runs the household?
Precious Pets is waiting.

Have a favorite family recipe?
Share the food and the story behind it.

Are you an artist, writer or photographer?
We'd love to find ways for you to contribute.

Is someone in the neighborhood making a difference?
Nominate them.

And if you have an idea that doesn't fit into any existing section, that's even better.

Some of our best Year Two features may be ones we haven't thought of yet.

This Is Your Magazine!

That's the message I hope comes through more than anything else after our first year. This isn't my magazine about Spaulding Farm. It's Spaulding Farm's magazine. I'm simply fortunate enough to help put it together every month.

So as we celebrate 12 months in print, I want to say thank you to every family who has trusted us with their story. Thank you to every resident who has submitted a photograph, written something, recommended a neighbor, attended an event or stopped me to tell me what they enjoyed in an issue. Thank you to the children who have filled these pages with personality. Thank you to the businesses that make the publication possible. And thank you to everyone who simply opens the magazine each month and reads it.

Twelve covers.

Hundreds of photographs.

Countless conversations.

One incredible community.

And we're just getting started.

WANT TO BE PART OF YEAR TWO?

Feature Family • Kids • Young Athletes • Pets • Travel • Recipes • Hobbies • Artists • Veterans • Community Service • Milestones • Resident Writers • Neighborhood History • And your ideas!

Whether you want to nominate your own family, recommend a neighbor, submit photos or help create a completely new feature, reach out.

— Karl Schultz
Owner & Publisher
Stroll | Spaulding Farm