Farewell, and thank you, to Randy and Vicki

This was a bittersweet week for us here at The Deerfield Valley News. On Wednesday, we said our official goodbyes to Randy and Vicki Capitani on their last day with the newspaper they built over the last three and a half decades.
Most of our readers probably already know, but for those who don’t, Randy and Vicki sold The Deerfield Valley News to Vermont Independent Media, publisher of The Commons, in July. But they didn’t walk out the door and into the sunset. As part of the sale, they agreed to stay on in a consulting capacity to provide stability during the transition, carry on some of the newspaper’s advertising sales, and share their wealth of knowledge as staff, old and new, learn their new roles.
For those who don’t know the history of The Deerfield Valley News, here’s a brief synopsis:
The newspaper was established in 1966 by Mount Snow, and initially called “The Mount Snow Valley News.” The valley had been without a local newspaper for several decades, but in 1966 the area was growing. Mount Snow and other businesses needed an outlet to showcase what was going on in the valley, and to advertise to visitors and locals. Although it was owned by Mount Snow, the paper was much more than a promotional piece – the editor and managing editor were both professional journalists, and solid news reporting was a priority.
After a couple of failed attempts, the newspaper found success as an independent publication in the early 1970s.
The name of the publication has changed several times throughout its nearly 60 years. In the 1980s, under the ownership of Don Albano, the paper was known as “The Southern Vermont Valley News” and simply “The Valley News.”
Randy Capitani purchased the newspaper in 1991, with business partner Bobby Edwards. At the time, “The Valley News” wasn’t on the strongest of footings, businesswise. Former employees who had worked for the newspaper before Capitani and Edwards purchased the business have recalled that staff would race to the bank to deposit their checks on payday, because on more than one occasion funds ran dry before the last check was cashed. That uncertainty ended with Capitani and Edwards. Capitani and Edwards also changed the name to “The Deerfield Valley News,” redesigned the layout, and set the publication on course to become a trusted and dependable newspaper.
Edwards – who was also the Dover Chief of Police at the time – sold his stake in the newspaper to Randy and Vicki in 1995.
Since then, Randy and Vicki continued to build and expand the business, producing a quality publication, week after week, without fail – and despite many challenges. And there certainly have been challenges. We’ve managed to publish despite massive regionwide power outages (thanks to a friend of The Deerfield Valley News with a generator and plenty of kitchen table space), floods (Tropical Storm Irene), and too many blizzards to mention. One of the most recent challenges, and perhaps one of the biggest, was the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown. The Deerfield Valley News continued to publish, despite the sudden and catastrophic loss of advertising revenue.
But those of us here at The Deerfield Valley News are thankful for more than Randy and Vicki’s business smarts. We’re also thankful for their guidance over the years as we’ve grown along with the newspaper. And for their support and dedication to their employees over almost 35 years. Providing a solid, reliable, competitive paycheck is no small feat in the valley’s up-and-down economy. Employees have come and gone, but thanks to Randy and Vicki, employees have had the means to put food on the table, maintain reliable transportation, pay rent or mortgage, take vacations, and even save for retirement while they were here. That’s something to be thankful for, and something for Randy and Vicki to be proud of.
And over the last six months, as we here at Vermont Independent Media and The Deerfield Valley News have worked to parcel out Randy and Vicki’s responsibilities to the new team, we’ve come to realize just how much work they have done, and the vast amount of knowledge they have about The Deerfield Valley News, about the newspaper business in general, about advertising and marketing, and about our readers and advertisers.
The good news for those of us in the Wilmington office is that, although Randy and Vicki are no longer working for The Deerfield Valley News, they’re still here – literally, they’re right here in an adjoining office from which they’ll continue to run their remaining Vermont Media businesses, including The Cracker Barrel and the Discovery Map of the Mount Snow Valley and Southern Vermont. We can still pop in and tap into their vast store of knowledge anytime – or at least until they get sick of us.
As a final note to Randy and Vicki, thank you for everything you’ve done over the last 34 years. You’ve left The Deerfield Valley News far better than you found it.