Shepherdstown resident Todd Cotgreave holds a copy of his new magazine, “A Wide Place in the Road,” in front of McMurran Hall. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — For 41 years, the Good News Paper provided local residents with a printed forum in which to share their thoughts, poetry, event information and photographs.

But then the COVID-19 Pandemic hit, and the Shepherdstown Ministerial Association, which founded and managed the newspaper, decided it was time to cease publication. When one of the longtime contributors to the Good News Paper, Shepherdstown resident Todd Cotgreave, heard the news, he was heartbroken.

“It hurt to hear that the Good News Paper was ending. It was a staple of the community,” Cotgreave, who has lived in the town since 1992, said. “It only covered Shepherdstown, so it was even more poignant for people in town. You truly got to learn about your neighbors. You got to hear the full scoop on someone you’ve seen in town a thousand times, but didn’t really know who they were.”

And so Cotgreave decided to reach out ask the Shepherdstown Ministerial Association for permission to continue publishing the newspaper. His request was approved, with the caveat that this new version of the newspaper go by a different name. He briefly tried publishing an online-only version of the newspaper. However, it quickly became clear to him that most of the readers of the Good News Paper loved it, in part, because it was a print publication. That realization led him to brainstorming for ideas on how to best continue the legacy of the Good News Paper.

After giving it some thought, Cotgreave began making plans to begin publishing his print version of the Good News Paper, but with a few twists. It would no longer be a black-and-white newspaper, but a colorful magazine, printed by Specialty Printing in Shepherdstown. It would no longer be published once every season, but every-other-month on the full moon. It would embrace multimedia, by providing QR codes in the magazine that could be scanned on a smartphone and take the reader to see a live performance or experience from an event. It would expand its focus from Shepherdstown to Appalachia and the District of Columbia, featuring information about upcoming events, human interest stories, business profiles, eye-catching photography and sections on art, music and poetry.

“A Wide Place in the Road” is for sale at Four Seasons Books in Shepherdstown and Bushel & Peck in Charles Town. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

“It is no longer Shepherdstown-specific. Now it is about Appalachia, for lack of a better word, except I am going to do some stories about people in D.C. Ultimately, the magazine is just about good people,” Cotgreave, who grew up in Elkins, said. “It’s still the same feeling of the Shepherdstown Good News Paper and it’s still based in Shepherdstown, so a lot of what we’re going to cover will be very Shepherdstown Good News Paper-y. We’re just no longer confined to the city limits.”

The one final change made to the publication — the one requested by the Shepherdstown Ministerial Association — required a significant amount of research. After some thoughtful deliberation, Cotgreave landed on the new name for his magazine, “A Wide Place in the Road” — a slang term meaning “a very small town or village that is unremarkable or insignificant.”

“The name process took forever,” Cotgreave said. “But as soon as I read ‘A Wide Place in the Road’ and said it out loud, it totally made sense.”

He noted that an ode to the Good News Paper will be visible in every issue.

“This stripe right here pays homage to the Shepherdstown Good News Paper — they had a black bar at the top of every page,” Cotgreave said, pointing to the black bar across the bottom of most of the magazine’s pages.

The first issue of the magazine was put on sale Wednesday at Four Seasons Books in Shepherdstown and at Bushel & Peck in Charles Town. It may also be purchased online, at www.awideplaceintheroad.com. Magazines ordered online for addresses within 15 miles of Shepherdstown will be delivered by Cotgreave the Sunday after each issue is published.

For more information or to contribute to the magazine, email awideplaceintheroad@gmail.com.