January 1, 2025 marked some major milestones for The Village Green.
Founded in 2014 by Mary Barr Mann and Carolyn Parisi, The Village Green is now solely owned by Mary, with Carolyn moving on to other projects and interests. Additionally, Laura Griffin has joined the staff as a full-time Co-Editor; Laura will be working with Mary on day-to-day reporting and coverage.
Laura, who began freelancing for The Village Green last summer, has spent her career in journalism and communications, working as a staff writer for The Florida Times-Union, The St. Petersburg Times and The Dallas Morning News, before becoming an adjunct journalism professor at the University of North Texas and freelance writer for magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times and USA Today magazine.
Laura has called South Orange home since 2007, and first worked with Mary in 2010 at Patch, where she was the editor for Millburn Patch until 2012. She left Patch for Montclair State University, where she was the editor of Montclair Magazine and later the editorial director for University Communications. Laura was on The Village Green’s founding board and was its very first subscriber in 2014. “I believe local news coverage is vital to a strong and active community and is a cornerstone of democracy,” says Laura, who is excited about this opportunity to serve and engage with her home community.
Laura Griffin, who joined The Village Green as Co-Editor on January 1, 2025.
Laura joins regular freelance writer Lela Moore, who has provided reporting concentrating on South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education meetings since 2021. Visit our About Us page to see a full list of our contributors over the past 10 years — Village Green contributors have included Columbia High School students (a number of whom have gone on to careers in journalism), Montclair State University and Rutgers students, local residents/journalists, and more.
Readers can contact The Village Green through our main email at [email protected] with news tips, coverage requests, questions and feedback. Laura can be reached at [email protected]; Mary can be reached at [email protected].
Throughout the years, The Village Green has been sustained by our subscribers and our loyal local advertisers. If you are interested in reading our daily, professional journalistic coverage of Maplewood and South Orange, subscribe here. If you wish to advertise your local business, contact Kathleen Bailie, our Advertising Sales Representative, at [email protected]. Check our our list of local advertisers here.
Ten years in, The Village Green is stronger than ever and committed to continuing independent, journalistic coverage of the South Orange-Maplewood community. Watch this space for more announcements in the coming months!
