Longtime Sewanee community member Kiki Beavers will take over as editor and publisher of the Sewanee Mountain Messenger, effective June 1. Co-publishers Janet Graham and Laura Willis are both leaving the paper.
“We wanted to ensure that the Messenger stayed in the hands of someone who loves it as much as we do,” Graham said. “Laura and I have great confidence that Kiki will be a wonderful editor and publisher.”
Graham is retiring after 20 years at the Messenger. She was hired by Geraldine Hewitt in 1996 to sell display ads.
The last issue with Graham and Willis as publishers will be May 20. Willis is stepping down as editor on April 8, when she begins her full-time position with the South Cumberland Community Fund. Beavers will begin editing the paper on April 12. She will take ownership of the paper and publish her first issue on Friday, June 3.
“You won’t see many changes,” Beavers said. “There will just be one person instead of two publishing the Messenger.”
Beavers has been active in the community in a variety of roles. She is president of the Sewanee Civic Association. She has co-chaired the Sewanee Community Chest and has also served as its administrator for four years. In the past four years, the Civic Association has raised $460,000 for local organizations and programs.
For 10 years, she coached basketball at the elementary, middle school and varsity levels. She was the treasurer and secretary for the Sewanee Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization. She was treasurer of the Sewanee Youth Soccer program for six years, affiliated with the national American Youth Soccer Organization. For three years she was the auction chair for the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School Parents’ Council.
“I believe in our community,” Beavers said. “It is a great place to live and work, and I look forward to bringing my skills to the Messenger.”
Her past work experience includes advertising specialist, event chairman and technical writer for Computational Systems Incorporated in Knoxville. She was a self-employed graphic designer, most notably for Industrial Communications, Inc., in Knoxville, publishers of Reliability®Magazine.
For 15 years, she was the owner and operator of Shenanigans Restaurant.
Beavers has been a staff writer and sports editor for the Sewanee Mountain Messenger, and currently designs one of its websites, <www.themountainnow.com>.
She and her husband, Ben, live in Sewanee with their children, Sarah, a sophomore at George Mason University, and John, a freshman at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School. She is currently employed by St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School in the communications and marketing office, responsible for maintaining the website <www.sasweb.org>, advertising layout and purchases, graphic design and writing of press releases. She is also the editorial assistant for the alumni magazine.
Beavers has a degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee.
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