Do you remember the InPort?

In May of 1992, Louis Ryan, who was the founder and editor of the paper, introduced the first issue by writing; “This monthly news magazine is undertaken with the intent to bridge the gap in communications between segments of our communities. The time has come to reestablish the link of information exchange once handled by the local weekly newspapers. Our existence hinges on an ability to fill the void created by the passing of The Port Byron Chronicle and The Cayuga Chief which once provided local news.” And for the next 20-years, the paper would try to do that.

The staff of the first issues was listed as; Louis Ryan, publisher; Kelly Smith, Editor; Lindsley Clark, Advertising Director; Christine Patterson, Foreign Correspondent (Vermont); with Dorothy Nelson, Brad Chase, Eula Lamphere, Joni Lincoln, Bill Colley, John Ozolins, and Robert McMillan, as contributing writers. Over the next years, other writers would include; Eileen Cichello, Carol Hamell, Ann Mlod, Vic Sine, Chris McKeen, Carol Ward, Penney Cosentino, and many more.

It would be safe to say that the InPort was Lou Ryan and Lou was the InPort. An article in 1995 listed his duties as the; publisher, editor, column writer, story writer, interviewer, subscription editor, photographer, layout editor, graphics designer, and many more. Lou was an old newspaper man. A article about his life appeared in the March 1995 issue of the paper after he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He started in the late 1940s as a teenager in the newsroom of The Cayuga Chief , where he learned typesetting and later how to craft an article. After a brief stint as a milkman, he returned to the newspapers in 1959 and never left it. The article noted that he had intended to start four monthly papers, but after finding how much work one paper entailed, he settled all his efforts on the InPort. His death in the spring of 1995 left a sizable hole to fill. At the time of his death the subscription list was about 700. The various roles were taken over by an army of volunteers with Dewey Lincoln settling in as the general manager. He would continue in that role until the end of publication.

The main focus of the paper was “good-news.” The pages were filled with community events, historical reminisces, historical society program announcements and board meeting recaps, church happenings, school programs, scouting events, the openings of new, and the history of well-established businesses. And one of the most popular columns was called Passings, otherwise known as the obituaries. These were copied from the Citizen and other papers (with permission of course), and updated as by the time the InPort was published, the deceased had long been buried.

A majority of the subscriber base was alumni of the Weedsport and Port Byron schools and many lived outside the area. This always posed an issue with any appeals to local advertisers as a business in Weedsport doesn’t benefit from ads appearing in Florida. As a result, many of the businesses simply ran ads to help support the paper, not to make sales. It was very nice of them to do this although it wasn’t very sustainable for the paper. Most of the financial burden fell to the subscribers, many of whom treated their subscription as dues to a organization and often included additional donations. There were many times when the bank balance was in the red and an appeal to the subscribers got the paper back in the black.

As the years went by and the staff moved on, or sadly passed away, the paper struggled to get issues together and the deadlines began to slip. Sometimes the 12 issues per year became 10 or 8 or 6. And as news began to spread by social media, there was less a need for a printed paper. And finding new writers was a challenge. The decision was made to end the run of the paper and the last issue was April of 2011.

The Lock 52 Historical Society of Port Byron is pleased to announce that the full run of the InPort, all 2812 pages, are now available on the society’s website for free. You can find them along with the other local papers on the Digital Resources page. In addition to the obituaries, the paper is filled with articles that will help family genealogists find interesting facts to add to their family tree. Membership dues and other donations help to make such projects possible, so please consider joining.