When my family moved to Melrose in 2022, we found a more vibrant, dynamic, and exciting community than we could have hoped for! But I soon realized that, with no central site for local news, it was harder than I expected to find out about local events, learn about local political issues and elections, and stay up-to-date with everything going on in town.
Eventually I began to envision a new website where Melrose residents could learn about local events, businesses, and organizations; get quick updates on everything happening in town; stay up-to-date on local government, and learn about candidates ahead of local elections. With a little bit of web design knowledge and a little bit of journalism background from college, I started this site in the hope that it will be a useful resource for Melrosians of all ages, backgrounds, and interests in the years to come.
The Melrose Messenger is entirely volunteer-run. We don't have any kind of financial structure, so if you're interested in supporting our work, please subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter and tell your Melrose family, friends, and neighbors about us. We love to see more people reading and tuning in to local happenings!
Ellen Putnam (Editor-in-Chief, Reporter, Photographer, Webmaster, Social Media, etc...)
When she's not chasing down leads and writing about local happenings, Ellen is a stay-at-home mom to her two girls. In the past, she worked as a paralegal and taught English and Social Studies to middle schoolers in Chelsea and Brookline. You can also find her singing, playing the piano at a mediocre level, crafting, and reading (mostly fantasy and historical fiction). Ellen loves to meet new people and talk about all things related to Melrose.
Patrick recently retired after working for over 30 years as a Human Resources professional in the financial services and healthcare industries. He's lived in Melrose for most of that time. Writing for The Melrose Messenger is Pat's small way of helping to maintain a forum that promotes communication and transparency in the city. It also gives him the chance to talk to people who are doing some really interesting and cool things in the community.
Nancy started taking photos and writing about local businesses, events, people, and history on the Melrose MA Community Facebook page in February 2023. The Melrose Messenger has been proud to use her photos and writing since we first launched, and our collaboration has only grown since then. In addition to photographing and writing about Melrose, Nancy is a nurse entrepreneur - the owner of Occupational Health Connections - and she also organizes nursing conferences and webinars and serves on the boards of multiple nursing organizations, helping shape the future of occupational health.
A junior at Connecticut College, Ellis is an aspiring journalist who loves to bring truth to anyone who is willing to read his writing. At school, he runs for the cross country and track teams, is the sports editor at his college paper, gives tours for the admissions office, manages freshman orientation leaders, and is a member of the Philosophy Student Advisory Board. He loves playing guitar and piano, reading, debating people about politics, and has performed in a number of musicals and plays. If he doesn’t respond to your contact, he is probably running in the woods or buried in the keyboard of his laptop.
