As we’ve been working to prepare the last print edition of FLL for you, I’ve also been looking back on the last 18 (!!!) years of Fine Living Lancaster magazine. What floors me (though I suppose that it shouldn’t) is how much has changed in such a relatively short period of time. 

Take, for example, our fifth issue from 2009. Our cover story was about the best places in Lancaster county to get WiFi! (I called the article “Hook Up,” one of the many titles that seemed much more clever at the time...) Obviously, now you can find WiFi EVERYWHERE. Plus, the cover photo was taken at Borders Books – a chain now long gone from the world. 

So many things, and in a few cases, people that have appeared on the pages of FLL since our launch in 2007 have since faded away. Not to sound too maudlin, but that’s the very first thing that hit me when looking through our past sixty four issues.

That being said, the most profound impact that the magazine has had for me is in the amount of incredible new people I was lucky enough to meet because of it. Some have become dear, lifetime friends, while others were just really great characters to know along the way. These folks range from smart and talented Lancastrians, to huge music stars, professional athletes, movie and television actors, and more. I mean, due to this magazine that you hold in your hands, I once had dinner at the Belvedere Inn with Malcom of Malcolm in the Middle (Actor Frankie Muniz – nice guy, pretty quiet, enjoys a steak), as we were profiling a band that he was in, along with some regional musicians. Talk about a surreal evening!

Speaking of bands… There was also the time that all four original members of LIVE – the mega-successful band from York, PA – ended up attending our 10th anniversary party at Tellus 360 (despite being previously estranged from Lead Singer Ed Kowalczyk). Turns out that LIVE was reuniting and had not yet announced it to anyone. And yet, anyone lucky enough to have made it into Tellus that evening got a sneak peek. If you were there, you might recall that it was a fantastic night.

Photographing Opera Soprano Nora Graham-Smith for Issue 31 is another fond memory for me. The shoot made for a great cover, and Nora brought so much glamour and sophistication to the shoot – which you’d never know took place in front of a massive chicken coop! (For more interesting anecdotes and stories from our past covers, turn to the inside of our fold-out cover.)

It’s truly surprising how much you can forget over the years. For example, I recently stopped by a client’s home to pick-up some documents for a mortgage application (as you all likely know, being a Mortgage Loan Officer has been my formal career for three decades now; say hello at markpontz.com), and the gentleman who answered the door recognized me and immediately said, “Your magazine set me up on a date once!” With a laugh, I remembered that, for a few issues, FLL served as matchmaker. We invited readers to submit themselves to be matched up with potential dates, and then we treated them to a first date dinner. Afterwards, we interviewed both parties separately about how the date went. Spoiler alert: For this gentleman, nothing came of the date. But perhaps one of the others ended in true love? If you’re one of the single folks who participated in this matchmaking article and happened to find the love of your life because of it, please let us know!!

Space and time will not permit me to share all the memories I have from the last 18 years, and about so many of the ongoing features and series that we ran, from “Food Fight” and “Dinner with the Breakfast Club” to “Penn’s Picks” and our reporting annual trips to South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas – just to name a few.

However, the very best part of this journey has, and will always be, the people. I am so grateful for the new and lasting friendships that have come from FLL. 

Yet most importantly, I would be remiss not to celebrate the involvement of my family, which has expanded over the years of our publication. My amazing wife, Marian, started our “Lunch” interview series, and has since expanded her involvement to write many features and become the true social conscience of the magazine. If you saw a good cause covered in our pages, chances are that she brought it to us. 

Then, my son, Jordan, (unexpectedly) took over running our Creative Department. Just after our tenth anniversary issue, Jordan has been designing every aspect of this magazine, up to and including the issue you hold in your hands. He has brought a fresh, cool, and modern design and aesthetic to FLL that we really needed, and he stepped in right when we really needed it.

Of course, my daughter, Maddy, was not yet a teenager when this magazine began. During college summers, she would often help out as a publishing assistant, and later served as a guest editor for two issues of this magazine (the first of which happens to be one of my all-time favorites). With her fantastic talent and irrepressible drive, Maddy evolved into our Copy Editor. Now, and for the last few years, she has been running the whole darn thing as our Managing Editor. 

If I can say one thing, let it be this: There is something so incredibly satisfying about holding something lovely in your hands and knowing that it exists because your family worked hard to make it so. 

So I leave you here with our last print issue in your hands. I hope that you will stay with us as we migrate to digital and continue to bring you all that is fine in Lancaster (and everywhere). I thank you so much for coming along with us on this exciting ride.

To everyone that ever told me: “I love FLL” – thank you. To every advertising partner that has supported us through the years, thank you. (And a VERY special mention to a Lancaster fine dining institution – Belvedere Inn, which has advertised in every. single. issue. that we have printed!) To all of our contributors, freelancers, and article/photo subjects, thank you for sharing your time, talents, and stories. To the early contributors to this magazine, thank you. To the entire Lancaster community, thank you.

Mark